


In The Line

by FourandOne



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Big Sisters, Child Abuse, Child Lexa, Coalition, F/F, F/M, Gen, Heda Lexa, Little Sisters, Major Character(s), Major Original Character(s), Mother-Daughter Relationship, Original Clans (Warriors), Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-08-17 11:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 51,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8142038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourandOne/pseuds/FourandOne
Summary: It’s ten years before the 100 arrived on Earth.This is a story about what was happening on the ground at that time. It mostly revolves about our beloved Grounders from the show in their younger days. Lexa and her family are in the center of attention, but Anya, Indra, Roan and others are also important to the plot.There is a war happening and the Coalition from the show is slowly taking shape. Also some romance, friendships, family bonds.There are A LOT of OCs in this story and places and facts I came up with that don’t exist in the show. Also the idea is from before 3x09, so here Luna IS NOT a Nightblood and Floukru are NOT like seen in the show.Give it a go you guys… It’s a slow burn so give it until at least the third chapter…





	1. Touch The Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the first chapter. There will be ten in total.  
> The first two are mainly for getting to know the characters and the situation… Also some cute Lexa and Costia moments…  
> At the bottom I posted some information that you might have missed since there are a lot of OCs. I’ll also write every character’s age and a faceclaim for all the original characters.  
> I would be thrilled if you’d leave me a review. I appreciate compliments as well as criticism (only constructive).  
> English isn’t my first language, so sorry for the gramma and the poor vocabulary. Try to focus on the idea more than on the execution.  
> Once again I repeat LUNA is NOT a Nightblood. Floukru are like any other clan they just leave on the sea coast.  
> There is some Trigedasleng. The translations are in the [ ].

_Being late is like saying that you're more important than the person waiting for you. And if you make that kind of statement, you better be ready to back it._ That’s what Trini’s mother always said to her and it was the only thing going through her mind as she was running mindlessly to the throne room of the tower. Yeah, it was easy for her mother to say that. She was the Commander so she was without doubt the most important person in the known world. And she waited for no one.

Trini stormed into the Throne Room to find it empty. This made absolutely no sense. Her mother was supposed to listen to petitions today and wanted Trini by her side. Trini of course hated every minute of it. Listening to people complain for hours, and then not actually helping them but threatening or lying. Terrible.

Trini was the Main Natblida. The best warrior of all the Nightbloods. The one destined to become Heda one day. That meant she was the Commander’s second, and had to attend all meetings with her since she was a child. If this wasn’t bad enough already, the Commander was her mother so she was extra though on her.

The reason she was late was… Well, she really didn’t want to come. She was in combat training and lost track of time. She always preferred that part of preparing for command. She was a skilled fighter and she knew it.

Suddenly, she heard the door open. She turned around and saw her mother entering in a hurry.

“Moba ai don non kom op gon taim, Heda. [I’m sorry I didn’t arrive on time, Commander.]” she spoke and bowed.

“Oso na lan gonasleng op. [We will use English.]” her mother commanded.

“Alright. But why?”

“We have guests from other clans. I have summoned them.”

“Why?”

“I could ask you WHY you are late, but I won’t. Now follow me. I need my seken [second] by my side.”

Trini followed her mother out of the room.

“You’re seriously not going to tell me?” Trini asked.

“If you arrived in time you would know. There’s been an attack on Sandkru. Frikru is getting out of control again. So I have summoned all the representatives here to decide whether to fight back.”

Takoma kom Trikru commanded eight clans from the capital Polis. There were another four close by, that refused to join the coalition. And then there was Frikru. There was not a single boy or girl in any clan that didn’t hear the stories of the infamous thirteenth clan. They’d come in the dead of night, riding their black horses, firing their guns and take children, as well as, grown men from their beds, steal whatever they could find and kill anyone that tried to fight back. How much truth there was in these stories? Trini had no idea. Her hate for the clan had much deeper roots. Ten years ago her father was killed in one of those attacks, so she was always quick to condemn them.

“Something has to be done.” Trini mumbled, reliving all the pain of her dad’s passing in her head.

“That is not for you to decide. I need you to go and receive the Ice Nation representatives and show them to their rooms.”

“I think I’d do better with Floukru.”

“You will do as you are told, Trini. I know Luna from Floukru is your friend, but as a future commander you must learn that you cannot spend time only with people you like. There will come a time you’ll have to make peace and even break bread with people you completely despise.”

“Your wish is my command.” Trini left her mother and started walking down the staircase. Damn. She was hoping to spend a nice evening with her best friend Luna, but now instead she’ll have to be polite to Azgeda and their obnoxious queen.

\-----

Lexa and Costia sat a bit lower on the stairs. They’ve spent almost the entire morning on the hunt for a lizard and they finally caught one. Trikru warriors rarely have a chance to spend time with animals they’re not going to eat after. That is why having a pet was such an appealing idea to the girls.

They were carefully observing the lizard’s reactions to the new environment they’d brought him to when Trini spotted them.

“Lexa, could you come here for a second?” Trini called out for her little sister.

“What?”

“What are you doing here? You should be training. Both of you.”

Lexa was a Natblida like her mother and big sister, so skipping even one day of training could bring serious consequences. Costia on the other hand could disappear completely and no one except her best friend Lexa would notice. Her parents were simple hunters. They disappeared in the woods when she was about four years old and she’s been practically living at the tower with Lexa ever since. Both Trini and Lexa thought of her as part of their family.

“It’s not our fault. Anya told us she can’t train us today. She said she had something to do.” Lexa defended herself.

Trini knew exactly what was going on. Anya, Lexa’s master, would mysteriously disappear into the forest every time Azgeda came to town. This could only mean one thing. She was in a relationship with someone from there. And that was not accepted in neither of the two clans. Azgeda was not part of the coalition and were generally despised by other clans.

“Now listen to me, striksis [little sister]. You two have to leave the tower right now because if mother sees you, Anya will be in a lot of trouble.” Trini ordered.

“But where will we go?” Costia asked.

“Go into the forest and play. And release that lizard or mother will throw it from the top of the tower like she said. Where do you keep finding them anyway?”

“I don’t think she would really throw it from the tower. I could keep it in my room and we’d feed it, and clean after it…” Lexa took the little beastie into her hands and held it close to Trini.

“I’m sorry. It just won’t work. And it will be happier in the wild with its friends. Now let’s move!”

All three of them started walking down the stairs.

\-----

 They almost reached the exit undetected but were waylaid by Queen Nia. She was in the company of two guards and her second Ontari.

The clans had a lot of meetings so all the leaders and seconds knew each other well. Most of them were lifelong friends, like Trini and Luna, but Azgeda were not the most sociable people. Ontari was around ten, just like Lexa and Costia but never spent time with them. Nia taught her games were for fools. She wanted the little girl to be completely loyal to her and dedicated to becoming a warrior.

Upon seeing the Queen, Lexa hid the lizard behind her back and made the most suspicious smile ever. This made Trini chuckle.

“Something funny, Main Natblida?” asked Nia. Trini took a long look at the older woman. She did always find the woman’s crown made out of bones funny, but this was hardly the time to mention that. She took a deep breath and appeared to be serious again.

“Not at all. I was sent by the Commander to show you to your rooms.” she said finally.

“It seems that Takoma will never stop insulting me. She summons me here like I’m one of the worms that give up their freedom to bow down for her. And then she doesn’t even come to greet me but sends three little girls.”

“I’m assuring you, Heda is extremely busy and won’t be receiving anyone today, but she sent me, her daughter, especially for you.”

“I see. And will her other daughter be receiving as well?”

“No. Lexa’s on her way… Out.”

“Unbelievable. There are children just wandering about. You Trikru really must begin disciplining them before it’s too late.”

“Our children are as well-disciplined as yours.” Takoma came out of nowhere.

“Speaking of children, where is your son, Prince Roan? I suppose he too is roaming about, unattended.” she added.

“He is a young, twenty-five-year-old man, not a child. He’ll be here if I call him.”

At that moment the lizard from Lexa’s hand jumped on her back and started climbing her shirt. Costia realized this and tried to catch it without looking suspicious. She pretended to pat her friend’s back. Trini knew she had to create a diversion.

“Heda, the Queen had some complaints about the meeting.”

“Yes”, Nia started, “We were summoned like we were your subjects, but Azgeda has not joined the coalition and never will.”

“I do not understand why you’re so opposed to this. You will yield in the end. Everyone needs the protection and stability of the coalition.” Takoma put a hand on Trini’s shoulder.

Costia’s finally returned the lizard to Lexa’s hands, still hidden behind her back.

“Not while I live! You will not destroy the dynasty and culture we have built.”

“And we do not wish to. I just want what’s best for the people.”

“You made the clans all learn Trigedasleng and forsake the language their mothers thought them.”

After saying that, Nia proclaimed something in Azgeda’s mother tongue, called Mahrazhilekh. It was known as almost impossible to learn if you weren’t born in the Ice Nation. Even some locals had problems with it. The pronunciations were a nightmare, the grammar was kitschy and even when it was done perfectly it just sounded like a lot of noise. Trini was fluent in many languages of the clans, and knew at least a few words from each one except Mahrazhilekh. It was all racket to her, so she couldn’t make out what the Queen was saying to Ontari. Later she found out their conversation went a little something like this:

“I want what’s best for the people, too. And that is your death, you miserable bitch.”

“You should end her fight right now, master. Save us all.”

“I should. I could spare us the torture of listening to her ramble.”

Then out of nowhere Costia answered back in Mahrazhilekh which sounded, as much as Trini could tell, flawless.

“You will not speak about our Commander like that, nor will you threaten her life in her own capital. You say another disrespectful word to her in any language and you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

Everyone was shocked by what they’ve heard. Sure, Costia was kind and friendly, as well as funny, but they never perceived her as helpful. Takoma only considered her a burden until this moment.

“Costia you…” Trini tried to form a question.

“My mother thought me. You never asked so I never told,” Costia made the most sincere smile and turned towards Takoma, “I have lectured the Queen about the importance of respect, Heda.”

This was one of those rare occasions when Takoma was caught off guard, but she regained control quickly.

“Very well. What are you two doing here anyway? You should be training.” she looked straight at her younger daughter.

“We were here for a reason…”

“Lexa forgot her knife. They were just getting back to Anya.” Trini cut off her little sister.

“Go on then.” Takoma believed the lie.

“And you Nia can either follow my daughter to your room or be taken to the dungeons, your choice.” she continued.

The girls ran out of the building while Trini took the Ice Nation representatives to one of the top floors.

\-----

After Trini showed everyone where they’ll be staying, it was just her and Nia. Alone.

“So, this is your room. You can call me if you need anything and I’ll see to it that you get it.” Trini opened the door of the room hoping the Queen will enter, ending this awkward situation. She didn’t.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being treated like this? Like a maid or a servant?”

“We all serve out Commander.” Trini wasn’t about to fall into a trap like that.

“But a competent, young Natblida like you? You’re one of the best warriors in the clans at only seventeen, there’s a bright future in front of you. Your mother is just holding you back with these demeaning jobs. Now, I would never let your talents go to waste like that.”

“My mother is trying to teach me how to handle diplomacy, which is a valuable skill if I’m to ever be Heda. Now I must leave you.”

Trini walked away. She was told repeatedly by her mother that every word that comes out of Nia’s mouth is an attempt to manipulate and get her own way. She knew this was the case today, but couldn’t help but wonder about what she’s heard. She would have never said those words aloud, but Nia made some good points. She did feel from time to time like she wasn’t appreciated.

\-----

Lexa and Costia have already made it to the woods and were sitting in the grass.

“Bye little friend, we’ll miss you.” Lexa said her farewell to the little reptile and set it carefully onto the ground. Costia put a hand on her shoulder. The little animal didn’t move a muscle.

“Go on now. Go.” Lexa pushed it gently with her hand. It still didn’t move much.

“Come on, run! Run you useless toad!” Lexa screamed.

Costia could see her friend was overly upset. She wanted to help but talking would just make things worse. Lexa could rarely explain what was upsetting her. Instead Costia decided to start a game of tag. They ended up having a lot of fun. They didn’t even realize they were going further and further away from Polis.

\-----

In the tower Trini finally ran into Luna on the steps.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.” Luna said and hugged her friend.

“I really don’t want to talk about what kept me. I actually want to forget it.”

“Perfect timing, then. Should we do _it_ today?”

“I’ve got the equipment in my room. Let’s go.”

The top of the tower with the flame was reserved only for the Commander and the Flamekeeper. There were two guards guarding the entrance at all times. That’s why Trini and Luna devised a plan about a month ago to climb on the side of the building and see the top anyway. Today was finally the day.

“Are you sure about this, Trini?” said Luna, getting more nervous as the moment was approaching.

“Getting scared, are we?” Trini smiled leaning through the window to check out the situation.

“No, of course not. I just think we ought to take some more time and plan.”

“We have a plan. Now we need a shooter.” Trini handed her friend a bow and an arrow with a hook for a head and a rope attached to it. She was supposed to climb outside through the window, being held on a rope by Trini, and fire the arrow at the top.

“Why me?” Luna asked.

“You’re the better archer. We can’t miss.”

“Why not?”

“Because, what goes up, must come down.”

Luna didn’t want to betray her friend, but all she could think about was how she was going to _come down_. She just stood there, frozen in place.

“All right, I’m doing it. Just don’t drop me.” Trini tied one end of the rope around her waist and handed the other to Luna. In a few seconds she was out and making the shot. The arrow hooked perfectly.

“Can you join me now?” Trini asked already holding onto the new rope leading to the top. Luna didn’t say a word but started climbing.

“Trini, you know how you said we shouldn’t look down?”

“Yeah.”

“I did.”

“Just don’t let go and you’ll be fine.”

“Maybe this is enough for today.”

“Oh, come on! You can climb back down but I promise you’ll be happy when you reach the top.”

“This was a bad idea. We are not meant to be this high. We are Trikru and Floukru. We belong down there with our feet on the ground.”

Trini didn’t answer. Luna took a deep breath and continued going upward. Soon they reached the roof. Trini helped Luna up.

The sun was just setting as they watched the beautiful scenery set before them.

“No wonder your mother doesn’t want to share this with anyone else. It makes you feel so powerful.” said Luna.

“Who wouldn’t want to take it all for themselves after seeing this?”

“We made it, wooo!” Luna screamed and jumped in excitement.

“That’s right! Be careful world because today we are Skaikru!” Trini exclaimed.

They continued jumping and yelling in ecstasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is kind of a collection of all the important facts so you can follow the story further:  
> The current Commander is called Takoma.  
> She is the mother of Trini (17 years old) and Lexa (10 years old). Both girls are Nightbloods.  
> Anya is Lexa’s master and Indra is Trini’s. Nia is a master to Ontari (9 years old).  
> Costia (10 years old) is an orphan and lives with them.  
> Luna (15 years old) is the second of the Floukru Leader.  
> The Coalition only has 8 clans the rest are separate. There is this group called Frikru that everyone fears and no one knows much about.  
> Don't forget to comment if you enjoyed it.


	2. Fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter is here. More Costia and Lexa bonding. Lincoln joins the characters.  
> Last chapter I named some of Lexa’s family members. Now you can see how they function as a family (or don’t).  
> Indra and Anya get a few lines as well…  
> Reviews will be appreciated.

After emerging victorious from a few games of tag with Costia, Lexa wanted them to rest for a while. They ended up in a nearby treetop. They were sitting there, eating fruits and laughing for about an hour. At one point spitting out the seeds from the fruit became a competition, too. The further, the better.

“Ha, that was the best one yet. Why don’t you just admit defeat?” Costia teased.

“Never. I’m trying again.” Lexa put a fruit in her mouth and after a few moments spit out a seed as far as she possibly could. It still didn’t beat Costia’s record.

“I guess we finally found something that I'm better at than you.”

“Well, of course you are. It’s a useless skill.”

“I’m still better.” Costia was amused by the face Lexa’s made. She was so used to winning that this bothered her. And Costia so enjoyed teasing her friend.

“We should get going. It’s late.” Lexa just realized it was almost sunset. It was about to get really dark and a bit dangerous in this forest. She’s been terrified of the dark since she could remember. It started out when she began sleeping in her own room. First she needed a candle to go to sleep peacefully, then a few and soon enough her room was filled with candles and she was still afraid. Afraid of what might lurk outside; in the hallway, outside her window. And staying outside, in the woods at night, that was unthinkable.

“If it’s about me showing off, I’ll stop.” Costia didn’t understand the sudden hurry and worry in Lexa’s voice.

“No. I think we should get back before dark, that’s all.” Lexa was on the ground in a few quick movements. Costia on the other hand wasn’t as good a climber as Lexa and took her time. Lexa urged her to hurry, so she did. She suddenly slipped and after a short fall landed on the ground feet first. Lexa screamed and ran to help her friend up.

“Costia! Are you alright? Costia?”

Costia didn’t answer but sat up and made a pained expression. Lexa saw that as an invitation to examine her. Her knee was severely scraped, but other than that fine, while her foot was in a strange position.

“Can you stand?”

Costia tried to get up, but even with Lexa’s help she just couldn’t stay upright.

“I think my right ankle is sprained. Badly. I can’t stand on it.”

“Then I’ll help you walk.”

“You can’t Lexa. This thing is already swollen. It’s only going to get worse and you can’t carry me, I’m too heavy. You have to go alone.”

“No, no. There are panthers and wolves in these woods. And you are unarmed and bleeding. If you stay then I stay, too.”

“Lexa, don’t be stupid. Go back and you’ll get me in the morning. I’ll be fine, just go.” Costia lied to make sure her friend was safe. In truth, she was terrified to stay alone without a weapon or a fire. It was a death sentence.

“Fine. I’ll go. But I’ll be the first thing you see in the morning. I promise you.” Lexa was getting teary. She took out a knife from behind her back and handed it to Costia.

“You love that knife.” Costia knew it was a valued family treasure.

“You’ll give it back to me.” Lexa hugged her friend and disappeared into the forest.

\-----

Costia was now completely alone. She clenched Lexa’s knife in her hand and looked around. With every minute that passed it was a bit darker and she could hear more sounds coming from all around her. Now that Lexa was gone at least she didn’t have to hide that she was afraid. She started crying. First softly but it grew stronger and louder.

Then she saw a light in the distance. Maybe it was rescue. A hunter from Trikru, perhaps. Didn’t even matter. She was saved. The light came closer and closer. Suddenly it was close enough that Costia realized it was Lexa carrying it.

“What are you doing?” Costia asked.

“Saving my best friend.”

“You’re mad. Now we’re both stuck here in the dark with no defense.”

Lexa was close now and Costia could see she was not only carrying a torch but also hauling something behind her. It was a stretcher Lexa made from a few branches and her jacket.

“Just hop on.”

Costia crawled to the stretcher and pulled herself up. She needed one hand to hold herself up and in the other she held the flickering torch.  She shined the way in front of Lexa who started pulling with all her strength. Costia’s feet dragged across the forest ground.

“Thanks for… You know. Being stupid and coming to get me.” Costia said, realizing this plan might not be as mad as she thought.

“Always.”

Lexa could barely speak. Her throat felt like someone was choking her. No matter how much she tried not to think about all the scary things out there between the trees she couldn’t. Her heart was pounding and the stretcher seemed to get heavier and heavier.

\-----

Luna and Trini got down from the tower safely and discreetly. Now they’ve arrived at their second destination of the day – the evening tournaments. It was a Trikru tradition since before Takoma was a child. It brought together people from different careers, people who didn’t usually have any reason to gather, and gave them the opportunity to share their skills and learn new ones. Everyone was welcome, from the highly respected Nightbloods to the common fishermen.

“So these are the fighting _pits_?” Luna asked looking at the fighters. There were no deep holes in the ground like she imagined just some round parts with no grass.

“Well, they aren’t actually pits, I guess.”

“So how do we join?”

“Slow down. I first want you to meet one of my friends. As soon as he’s done fighting.” Trini pointed at one of the two shirtless guys wrestling in a pit closest to them.

Luna couldn’t help but stare. He was good-looking to say at least. She drifted off for a second.

“I knew you’d like him.” Trini giggled, “He likes to walk around without his shirt.”

To be honest Trini was thinking about introducing them for years. They were perfect for each other. She liked guys that did a lot of crazy romantic gestures which was a rare thing among warriors. He liked girls who can hold their own in a fight but still need to be protected from time to time. He couldn’t handle a girl that would kick his ass in a fight every time. So this was essentially a set-up. But Trini also avoided this for a reason. A selfish one. They were too perfect for each other. She was afraid of distancing herself from both of them. And there was the problem of them being from different clans. Floukru was in the coalition, but still this kind of thing was not common.

“So, you and him?” Luna asked in disappointment.

“No. We’re just friends.”

“I admire your restraint.”

Trini smiled, keeping eye contact on her friend. He met her gaze as he was walking over. His opponent was lying in the dirt, gasping for air. It was a good fight.

“Nicely done.” Trini congratulated him.

“I hurried it up a bit. Saw you were waiting for me. And who is this?” he turned towards Luna. She was just smiling and staring at him.

“My friend Luna kom Floukru.” Trini rolled her eyes. _Did she forget how to talk?_

“I’m Lincoln.” he took a good look at her now. He kind of liked her goofy smile.

“Lincoln that was a nice… knock down over there.” Luna finally came to her senses.

“You want to try and block it?” He started walking towards the pit. Luna was confused but Trini pushed her forward and gave her a meaningful look.

She walked over and positioned herself on the edge of the arena opposite Lincoln. They both stretched for a few moments and then got into their fighting stances, waiting for Trini’s cue. Lincoln charged first but his powerful strike was dodged by Luna. They blocked each other’s punches a couple times before she managed to sneak an elbow kick.

After that panful blow she took a moment to think about what she was doing. She knew this guy for, what, two minutes and already she gave him a bloody nose. Charming. Although, she did want to impress him, and talking wasn’t going well, so maybe kicking his ass would do the trick. While thinking about her next move she admired the perfect shape of his jaw and, well, got distracted. He punched her straight across the face and she fell down. She didn’t expect him to bounce back so quickly.

“I’m terribly sorry. I really thought you were going to block that and I went full strength.” Lincoln tried to help her up. She was still a bit dizzy and quite embarrassed.

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” She took his hand and got up. There was a small stream of blood going from her bottom lip.

“I’ll have to be more careful next time.” He used his thumb to wipe off the blood from her lip and at the same time stroked her cheek gently.

Trini was looking at them. It was working! They were so obvious. Although, she couldn’t help but wonder if this is how it’s going to be from now on. Them, stroking each other’s faces, gazing into each other’s eyes and her, just standing there, unwanted.

“So, if you’re all done hitting each other I was hoping we could show Luna around a bit. This is a rare occasion when neither one of us has some chore.” Trini walked into the pit.

“What did you have in mind?” Lincoln sounded eager.

“I was thinking we should get back to the city and make her try a few Trikru delicacies.”

“I thought we could go and have a swim in the river.”

“She’s Floukru, swimming isn’t actually new to her.”

“We can do both. Sounds good.” Luna cut into their conversation.

“But first I have to ask you for a favor, Trini. You see, I wanted to be a guard at the tower for a while now, but I need a recommendation from my former master and he won’t give me one.” Lincoln tilted his head towards an old man standing not far from them.

“And you want me to talk to him? I will do it right away.” Trini started walking in the old man’s direction but Lincoln stopped her.

“No, Lady Scary Natblida. I just need you to fight me and lose on purpose.”

Trini hasn’t fought in the evening tournaments in ages. A few years back they became too easy. There was not a second that could beat her in any clan. Maybe a few masters.

“Of course. Anything for you. But try not to take advantage of this because I’ll make you pay some day.”

Luna cleared out of the pit and the fight began. Trini did her best to be as obvious as possible when attacking. She did a few advanced jump-kicks she learned from her mother to seem like she was trying. Lincoln was good considering this was about his tenth fight in a row. He finished the duel with a knockout punch like the one that Luna experienced earlier. And they were successful. Lincoln’s master came to him and promised to talk to Heda about his job. Perfect!

Before going on their tour with Luna they decided to check on Lexa and Costia in the tournament for little kids. Lexa was usually quite successful at these. She’d often go a whole night without losing one fight. But tonight everybody was cheering for Ontari as she was undefeated. And Lexa and Costia were nowhere to be found.

“No. No Lexa, no Anya, no Costia. I thought they’d be back by now.” Trini searched around for her sister.

“Sorry, I asked a friend and he didn’t see them even come to watch, let alone fight anyone.” Lincoln was trying to be useful. Trini was beginning to worry. It was almost completely dark and Lexa couldn’t stand that.

“They are probably home already. No need for you to worry about them.” Luna put a hand on Trini’s shoulder.

“I have to be sure. I’ll go to the tower and check on them. You two go. Have fun.”

Lincoln and Luna didn’t even have time to oppose her, she was already gone.

\-----

“And she vanished just like that?” Takoma sat at her throne frowning at the young woman before her trying to account for her daughter’s whereabouts.

“I am very sorry Heda, but that’s what happened. I was training Lexa and her friend so I gave them an assignment. They were to practice archery for an hour. I surveilled them but when they went into the woods to fetch one of the arrows they didn’t return. I searched tirelessly for them but they didn’t turn up. I presumed they went back home.” Anya was sweating through her clothes, trying to explain to Takoma how she lost track of her youngest daughter. It wasn’t simple, being master to the Commander’s children. Anya actually had it easy. Indra, Trini’s master, she was in a complicated situation. She chose Trini before she was Main Natblida, when she was around three. But now Indra had to share her mentorship with Takoma, as every Main Natblida was also the Commander’s second. Neither she nor Takoma liked this but it was the way of the Tree People. And the familial ties didn’t make things easier.

Trini stood by Takoma’s side, on the right where every Heda’s second stood for years and listened to Anya’s lies. Upon arriving to the tower she found out her sister and Costia were missing and Takoma knew nothing. She didn’t want to question Anya. She didn’t want to get her in trouble and she knew Anya had no clue anyway.

“Well, they did not return home.” Takoma interrupted Anya’s shaky story.

“She obviously isn’t the one to blame for this. We should send out a search party to find the girls and bring them home.” Trini remained calm despite of wanting nothing more than to attack Anya.

“First rule of being a seken: Speak only when spoken to.” Takoma chose to ignore the advice.

“I volunteer to lead the party. I do feel partly responsible.” Anya tried to seize the opportunity to make things better.

 _Volunteer? Partly?_ Trini was shaking with rage. She hated irresponsible people and leaving kids alone unattended fit the description. She wanted to tell her secret to her mother so much. But she didn’t. She hated Anya for getting her sister in danger, but there was no time for revenge. Something aimed at resolving the problem had to be done. Unfortunately, Trini was upset and when she was upset her self-control decreased greatly.

“That will not be necessary. It seems that you did your job properly and Lexa just decided to escape for no reason. There will be no search party tonight. If she could get herself into this mess she better be ready to drag herself out of it. You’re free to go Anya.” Takoma waved a hand at the door.

“Mother, don’t you think you’re exaggerating? They made a mistake. But they’re only ten and they’re all alone in the forest. We should get them.” Trini slightly raised her voice. Anya was trembling, expecting her secret to be reveled any moment.

“How dare you question my decision?” Takoma rose from her throne and faced Trini, “If your sister is strong enough she will return. If not, well, she deserves what happens to her.”

After saying that she gave the guard a little hand signal and he went out of the room.

“Are you hearing yourself, mother? You’re supposed to protect all of us, your people, and you won’t even help a child in need! Your child! Your blood!”

“I am supposed to make you into strong people and that’s never going to happen if I come to rescue you from every single thing that gets in your way.”

“Fine! I am going after them myself.” Trini started walking towards the exit. She was stopped by Indra who just entered.

“Good. Take her and train with her. All night. Don’t let her out of your sight. Under no circumstances go into the woods.” Takoma was not going to let up. Indra dragged Trini out, grabbing her by her arms and shoulders.

\-----

Indra wasn’t too happy with the Commander’s decision, but carried out her order. She took Trini to the training court that was completely empty at this hour. Trini’s first exercise was to throw punches and kicks at an old tree trunk. It was usually used for beginners that needed to toughen up.

“This exercise is pointless at my level.” Trini said. She was taking all her anger out on that tree trunk, but still didn’t feel calm. She should be out there.

“Then strike me.” Indra replied and got into her fighting stance. Trini tried to attack her a couple of times, but her master blocked every strike with only one hand. Trini saw this as a sign to strike harder, but Indra got hold of her arm and knocked the girl to the ground.

“You are angry. That’s why you can’t focus, can’t think in advance. You fight like a child! Get hold of your anger. Learn to control it and harvest its power when you need to. Again!”

Trini rose from the ground and saw Anya approaching.

“The Commander asked me to step in and take over your responsibility of guarding Trini.” she said.

“She specifically sent me. I am her master.” Indra turned towards the newcomer.

“Heda thought you deserved a break. I’m partly responsible so it’s only fair I stay up all night with Trini.”

Indra nodded and walked away. Trini and Anya just stood in silence looking at each other.

“Come on, get your horse. We’re going after them!” Anya picked up one of the torches buried in the sand and handed it to Trini.

“Really? So my mother didn’t send you?”

“You’d be faster if you asked fewer questions.”

They went their separate ways and met up again both riding their horses. Trini’s horse was pitch black and was named Trikova, meaning Shadow. It was with Trini since it was a foal.

So they ventured into the dark of the forest riding between the trees, waving their torches and yelling out the girls’ names.

\-----

It was now completely dark. The weak torch in Costia’s hand was the only thing stopping Lexa from completely losing it. Her heart was racing. And not only from the fear. Dragging Costia around was proving to be harder than she initially thought. She was tired and her legs just gave in. She fell and Costia with her. She got so startled she dropped the torch and it went out as soon as it came into contact with the muddy ground. Lexa screamed and started crying out, loud. Her hands started waving around hysterically and she was mumbling something, but it could not be discerned because of the crying. Costia managed to get hold of her hands in the dark and calm them.

“Listen Lexa, listen. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But just look at the moon, look at the stars. They’re always there even if you don’t see them.”

They both looked up but the sky was barely visible because of the canopies.

“The time to conquer this fear is now. I won’t lie, we’re in danger and I need my friend the fierce warrior with me.” Costia slowly let go of Lexa’s hands as she was calming down.

“The stars are always there.” Lexa mumbled.

“The stars are always there. So, are you ready?”

“We wait for our eyes to adjust and then we continue.” Lexa was mostly fine now, but still breathing heavily.

They were in silence for a few seconds and then they heard it.

“Lexa! Costia!” A voice from the forest that meant they were saved.

“We’re here! Here!”

“Lexa?”

“Trini? Here!”

As soon as she was sure she found them, Trini jumped off her horse and run to hug Lexa. Lexa was crying and at the same time trying to explain how Costia hurt her ankle. Costia joined the hug and laughed from relief.

“I must apologize. It was my actions that led to this.” Anya approached them. She tried to stay cold and distant but all three of them could see she was almost crying. She did after all have a conscience. And she was fond of the girls. She just couldn’t show it. It would be considered weakness, like pretty much any human relationship was.

Lexa forgot all about her fear as she was riding with Trini through the forest. She finally got her knife back and held to it tightly while glancing at Costia who was riding with Anya. She was so glad she stayed with her friend. Yes, it was foolish, but it was not weak. Their friendship didn’t make her weaker it made her strong.

Soon they rode into the capital. Lexa and Costia entered the tower and pretended to have walked till here on their own. Trini and Anya went back to training.

\-----

A couple of hours later Trini came back to the tower having received the _shocking_ news that her sister has returned home alive. Approaching the building she noticed Costia crawled up by the door.

“What happened?” Trini kneeled next to the little girl.

“The Commander punished us for running away. I am not allowed to enter the tower till tomorrow.”

“She made you sleep outside on the street? Did anyone look at your leg?”

“Yes. They called a healer.”

“And Lexa?”

“I’m not sure. Heda got rid of me first.”

Trini raced into the tower. Two guards were posted outside Lexa’s room and stopped her from entering. Commander’s orders they said. Lexa was to spend a night in her room, alone in complete darkness. Trini was outraged.

Her mother always made it clear she would do anything to make her daughters stronger. In Trini’s case she used mainly physical abuse. When Trini was younger, and not as good a fighter as she is now, her mother would beat her as punishment, motivation and also for no reason at all, just to toughen her up. Now, years later, Trini had a back full of scars, but was one of the most durable fighters the clan has ever seen. Takoma tried disciplining Lexa in that way once, but Trini stood up to defend her. Lexa was way more emotional fragile than Trini at her age, so Takoma used mostly psychological torture on her. Like today, she made her encounter her greatest fear just to punish her.

Trini felt so powerless. It hurt her thinking of Lexa lying there, alone and scared. Takoma was aware of that. She knew that by torturing Lexa she hurt Trini too. And that was so much worse than any beating she could have given her. Trini walked out and came back to Costia. She looked at her for a while and then lied next to her on the cold ground. When she finally stopped thinking about the horrors Lexa was feeling right now, she drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important developments:  
> -Lincoln (18, faceclaim) is Trini’s friend and met Luna for the first time  
> -Costia got hurt so Lexa and her were stuck in the forest, but Trini and Anya saved them without the Commander finding out  
> -Takoma has a history of abusing her daughters  
> The next chapter is longer and in my opinion more interesting. I’ll try and post once a week.


	3. Ghost Of The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized I never explained the title. “In The Line” refers to the line of succession. Because most of the main characters are children and young people who are very likely to become leaders in the future. Lexa and Trini are in the line to become the Commander, Luna will probably become the leader of Floukru, Roan is heir to the Azgeda Throne.  
> This is the chapter where the real plot comes in. It’s a bit long, I admit. And a lot of important stuff happens…   
> Roan joins the story and also a new OC that is very important…

In the Woods Clan there were not many different types of jobs. You could become a warrior, a hunter, a merchant, a builder, a healer and mostly that was it. The weapons and clothing were mainly bought from other clans.

The majority of children grew up to do the job their parents did. It made things simpler, since all the children dreamed of being a warrior and no one wanted to stand all day at a trading post waiting for customers. Costia was one of the lucky ones that had the chance to be something better than their parents. She was training with Lexa to be a warrior.

With a Commander for a mother Trini and her sister could never be anything else than warriors. The only time they spent their precious time on anything else than training was when they were being punished. Takoma had a habit of sending them off to work like a builder or a merchant for a day if they misbehaved. This was the case now too. She wasn’t satisfied with yesterday’s punishment and decided they can only eat what they kill for a week. What she didn’t count on was that Trini actually liked being a healer for a day, or a builder, or a hunter. She found it liberating. She actually enjoyed getting up at first light not to go training, but to go into the woods with her sister to talk and maybe catch something.

“Took us a while, but we found it. Eventually.” Luna was just describing the events of last night to Trini in great detail. She went on the hunting trip with the sisters and was currently occupying all of Trini’s attention while Lexa was walking not far from them, feeling neglected. She knew Trini loved her more than anyone in the world, but she was still a bit jealous. No matter how old she got, her sister would never think of her as an equal.

“So you actually went swimming?” Trini tried to ask as many questions as possible trying not to lose interest. Luna had a tendency of sharing too much detail and Trini had a hard time listening.

“No. We got there and Lincoln suggested we go into the river, but I said it was too cold. It was already late so I wanted to go home, but he said he had to show me something. So we sat on the bridge. And we talked. For like an hour non-stop.”

“So what did you talk about?”

“Oh, everything really. Families, training, politics, plans for the future… He’s just so interesting. And then when it was finally dark I saw them.”

“Them?”

“The fireflies. There must have been hundreds of them. As soon as the sun went down they came out of nowhere. They were flying everywhere, over the water, oh, it was so magical. Then he told me he liked me. And that was it.”

“You didn’t kiss? You two obviously need me there to push you.” Trini was happy they liked each other. She really was. If only she could find a match for herself that easily.

“There’s time. I’m just worried… You know, about the fact that we’re from different clans.”

“You shouldn’t. It’s happened before. Just look at Anya.” Trini couldn’t hold her tongue anymore. She wanted to share her theory about Anya with someone and Luna was one of the very few people she could trust with a secret.

“Lexa’s master? What about her?”

“What about my master?” Lexa overheard this part of the conversation and wanted to join in. She was ignored.

“You know how she disappeared yesterday? Well, that happens whenever Azgeda visits our clan. That is why I am sure she is in a secret relationship with someone from the Ice Nation.” Trini smiled slightly, proud of herself for figuring this out.

“Who is it then?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet. Has to be someone that follows Nia here every time. So probably one of her most trusted men. The only person I know that fits that description is Echo. But she’s a bit young.”

“I know one of them is named Ivon. Although, he’s a real jerk.”

“We’ll probably never know. Guessing is pointless.”

“Trini! I want to know what you’re talking about.” Lexa raised her voice.

“Just grown-up things, sis. Nothing that you’d find interesting.” Trini stopped walking and turned to the little girl.

“I am over ten years old. I use a grown-up sword. I can handle talking to you. Please, tell me and I promise I won’t tell any of it to anyone.” Lexa came closer and looked her sister in the eye.

“All right, you have a point. You can talk with the big girls now. We were just discussing why Anya left you and Costia alone yesterday.” All three of them started walking again.

“I want to know why.” Lexa was walking between Luna and Trini, looking up proudly at their faces. She was so excited to learn the mysterious things grown-up girls talked about.

“We don’t know, Lexa. But we have a pretty good idea.”

And so, they told her all about Anya’s secret relationship and Luna’s date with Lincoln. The short version, anyway.

The entire time they were carefully monitoring their surroundings. With the corner of her eye, Trini noticed a deer not far from them, completely unaware of their existence. They quickly hid in the bushes. The older girls wanted Lexa to make the shot. She took out what was now known as her lucky knife and stared at the deer. Now was the time to prove herself. She took a deep breath and threw the knife. It hit the deer’s leg. The animal immediately started running. This was not the hit she was expecting.

“Good job, Lexa! We’ll go finish her.” Trini and Luna ran off after the deer and Lexa was left alone briefly.

She felt this weird feeling of being watched and turned around. In front of her she saw a man. A man she’s never seen before. He was dressed completely in black. He wasn’t wearing any fur or bones for armor, his clothes were just, black. His eyes were staring right at her.

“Is your name Lexa?” Finally the man spoke. He must have heard Trini say her name a few moments ago.

“Is your mother the Commander?” He asked another question before stepping a bit closer to the girl. She took another long look at him without saying a word. Then she saw something at his side. It was a gun! A real gun.

“Trini! Trini!” Lexa yelled as loud as she could. She knew what this meant. Gun, black clothes, … He was Frikru.

“No, no. You don’t have to be afraid of me.” The man tried to grab her hand but she stepped back and pulled out her sword.

“What’s wrong, Lexa?” Trini came running from the forest. She froze when she saw the man. She ignored the obvious signs of Frikru because this man looked kind of familiar.

“Who are you?” Being the Commander’s second she met a lot of people and couldn’t remember most of them, but there was something about this one. He was middle-aged, brown hair, very tidy which was unusual. No beard. Also unusual.

“You really don’t recognize me?” He asked looking… Joyful? Everything about him was unusual, including his expression. He was openly staring at both of the girls, smiling like it was the happiest day of his life. Trini was not sure how to react to all of this, so she started slowly reaching for her sword while keeping eye contact with the strange man. It was at that moment, while she was looking at his eyes, that she remembered where she’s seen those eyes before. Lexa! Lexa had those eyes. And when she remembered that it all came rushing back to her.

“Can’t be…” she muttered, slowly realizing the man standing in front of her was her dad.

“Yes. It’s me, your father.” He took another step closer.

“That’s a lie! Our father is dead. Frikru killed him.” Trini drew out her sword.

“No. Look at me! You know I’m telling the truth.”

Trini kept looking, but the more she looked the more certain she became he was who he said he was. Yeah, he was a bit older, didn’t have a beard or long hair anymore, but it was him. The man who raised her, Keni kom Trikru.

“Is he, Trini?” Lexa was standing behind Trini this whole time in silence, but couldn’t stay quiet any longer. She was maybe a year old when her father supposedly died so she didn’t have one single memory of him, only stories from her mother and sister. Mostly good stories. And now she may have a chance to meet him.

Trini wasn’t as thrilled by this revelation as her sister was. She was feeling all kinds of hurt right now. She wanted to answer Lexa’s question but just couldn’t.

“Yes, I am, snacha. I don’t know what your mother’s told you, but I left by my own free will. I believed that Frikru ways are better.” Keni answered Lexa.

“My father would have never left us.” Trini found the strength to speak again.

“I wanted to take you… But your mother didn’t let me.”

“But you still left.”

“You don’t understand. I planned to come back for you. And I’m here. You can come with me now. We can be a family. I’ll show you why I left.”

“Without mother?” Lexa asked stepping closer to her dad. She was the only one considering his offer. Trini was so filled with rage. And she had every right to be. Ten years! Ten years she grew up without a dad! He left them. He left them with her. The woman who beat and locked them every chance she got. Trini fought hard to keep herself from crying.

“Family? We were a family and then you left! You are nothing to us and you’re not taking us anywhere!” She swung her sword in his direction, stopping right before hitting his chest. She kept the blade there, threatening.

 “Throw that weapon.” Trini ordered. She decided to treat him like any other Frikru member.

“You’re a fighter, like you always were, trilipa.” Keni lowered his gun to the ground and kicked it away, smiling. It didn’t matter to him what Trini was saying. He was happy just to hear her voice again, see her face. Then he glanced at his younger daughter, who was clearly confused with what Trini was doing.

“You really came for us?” Lexa couldn’t believe she was talking to her dad. She wanted this for so long and never thought it could be possible. But he was really here. There was so much she wanted to tell him. So much time she wanted to make up for. She didn’t understand why Trini was upset.

“Yes. So that we never have to be apart again.” As soon as Keni said those words Lexa ran to him and hugged him. Trini quickly pulled Lexa away, still holding up her sword.

“That’s why you came here armed?” she asked, then turned her head to Lexa, “We can’t trust him. He’s Frikru.”

“Trini just give me a chance.” Keni begged.

“Get away from me, and my sister! You’re here for something else. Go back to where you came from or I’m telling the Commander.” Trini took Lexa’s hand. The thought of him taking her sister away with him was unbearable.

“Please don’t. Believe me, I’m not the enemy. But I will leave if that is indeed your wish.” He tried to reach for his gun. Then Trini whistled loudly and an arrow came from nowhere almost hitting his hand.

“The gun stays here.” Trini looked up at the treetops where she knew Luna was hiding.

“But Trini why does he have to leave?” Lexa pulled Trini’s hand, trying to break free but Trini wasn’t letting go. Lexa still couldn’t understand. She only met her dad today and Trini was already chasing him away.

“Because he’s one of them now.”

“You can come with me, snacha.” Keni was already backing away but still didn’t lose hope that even one of them may come with him.

Lexa was faced with a decision. She looked at her father, then at her sister and then at her father again. She didn’t understand why any of this was happening, but she knew Trini was always there for her. She was not about to leave her.

“No. I would never betray my family like that.” Saying that, Lexa hugged her sister. Keni disappeared into the forest.

“I’m proud of you, Lexa. For not taking his offer. I’m glad you understand now.”

“I don’t. Why did you make him leave?”

“He made his choice long ago. He doesn’t belong here anymore. And you need to accept that and promise me you won’t tell any of this to mother, or anyone else?”

“I won’t, Trini. I promise.”

\-----

Later, Lexa went to a forest clearing not far outside the capital to meet Anya. She was surprised to see Costia there too. Her ankle was recovering rapidly so she thought some exercise could be good for her. Honestly, she was bored all alone in the tower.

They started off fighting with sticks. Costia was still a bit unstable on her right leg, but Lexa didn’t use it against her. She was the more skilled one after all, and she loved stick-fighting. Natblidas used it in training often to prevent serious injuries.

Anya was observing them, yelling out helpful advice from time to time. Then she heard a sound coming from the tree line. She ignored it and urged Lexa to move her legs more. She heard it again, this time louder. It sounded like breaking branches. Anya told her students to keep practicing and went to investigate the source of the sound. After all, she was in charge of Lexa’s safety as well as her training.

A little further into the woods stood a man leaned on a tree. He was dressed warmly, had shoulder-length brown hair and scars on his forehead and his cheek. He was sharpening an arrow.

“Good. I thought I was going to have to start whistling to get your attention.” He diverted his glance form the arrow to Anya.

“Go away.” Anya turned around. She recognized the man as Roan, Prince of Azgeda. And he was the last person she wanted to see right now.

“Just listen to me, skaifaya [star].”

“No! You got me into so much trouble. The Commander’s kid went missing. If she knew I left Lexa alone on purpose, she’d kill me.”

“But she’s right there”, he pointed to Lexa fighting in the clearing, “Everything worked out.”

“But maybe next time it won’t. I’m sorry Roan; I don’t think we should do this anymore.”

“Anya, you could have told me she was missing. I would have searched everywhere. I’d solve any problem for you.” He took her hand into hers.

“I don’t need you to solve problems for me. I need you not to create them.”

“Fine. I’ll help you train those two. You’re outnumbered anyway. I just want to spent time with you.”

“Then we must be careful. No kissing or holding hands. They have to think it’s just two masters cooperating.”

“That’s why we do this here.” Roan quickly stepped forward crashing his lips onto Anya’s. Oh, how he missed this. Missed her. They were forced to keep their relationship secret for a number of reasons. But in reality the only serious threat was his mother. She made it clear that he had to marry a girl from the Ice Nation one day and have an heir. Anything else was a distraction. A weakness. He ended the kiss and stroked Anya’s cheek one more time before going to the clearing. He still hasn’t said anything to her, but he knew it for a while now. He was thinking it every day. He loved her.

While training he showed Lexa and Costia some new moves aimed at disarming your opponent. He didn’t have a second of his own, but he was incredible. He made the girls laugh so hard they could barely hold up their weapons. And Anya, too. Than he _challenged_ Lexa to show him what she’d learned. He thought he was going to have to go easy on her but in reality she didn’t need the help. He was disarmed so fast he didn’t even know what hit him. He was seriously impressed. He’s seen Ontari train and she’s not even close as fast at learning new moves as Lexa.

“Great job. Maybe one day you’ll even be able to beat me in a real fight.” He smiled at the little girl who smiled right back at him.

“You were good today. You’re free now. Go back to Polis.” Anya commanded, “Me and the Prince will stay here and train some more.”

Lexa and Costia obeyed and soon they were in the forest far from anyone who might want to eavesdrop on their conversation. Lexa was still thinking about her encounter with her dad and was dying to share it with Costia. She did promise to Trini to keep it a secret, but this was Costia. She was basically part of the family. Surely this didn’t apply to her.

Lexa went ahead and told her. Everything. About her dad, and Anya’s lover, and Lincoln and Luna.

\-----

Meanwhile, Lincoln was lying in a flower field just outside Ton DC. There were so much fiery red flowers in this area that almost nothing else could grow. Lincoln got here hours ago and picked the biggest and most beautiful one for Luna. Now it was a bit dried up because he waited for her a long time. He was relived she even came.

“Did something happen?” Lincoln asked inviting Luna to sit by him.

“No. I’m sorry. I just got stuck with Trini and Lexa. It was an interesting hunt.” she sat next to him and took his hand.

“Did you catch anything?”

“Not really. Never mind the hunt. Now I don’t have time to stay here with you because I must be present at the meeting today.”

“Doesn’t matter. Go. I’m just glad I got to see you today.” He took the flower he picked for her and put it gently in her hair.

“I really want to talk to you; I do, but I must get going or I’ll be late.”

“But before you go…” He leaned in and kissed her, but then quickly backed away to observe her reaction. She smiled slightly and then got up and walked away in a hurry.

\-----

Lexa stood alone in her room when Trini stormed in.

“What did you do? Did you tell Costia about dad?” Trini almost yelled.

“I… I didn’t think it was a problem.”

“How about this? Mother found out! Is that a problem?”

“How? Costia wouldn’t…”

“Well, she did. And now out dad is in the dungeons, waiting to be executed.”

“She took him?” Lexa’s eyes filled with tears.

“Yes. And there’s nothing we can do to help him now.”

“I’m sorry, Trini! I really am. I wasn’t careful enough, I’m so sorry!” Lexa ran to hug her sister.

“Mom doesn’t have dad. And Costia only told me.” Trini whispered.

“You lied to me?” Lexa let go of Trini. Was this supposed to be a joke?

“Now you know how I felt. You promised to keep a secret and you didn’t. You even told her about Anya. I’m disappointed.”

“I didn’t think you meant I couldn’t tell Costia. I tell Costia everything.”

“For now, it’s fine. She promised to keep it to herself. And I hope she does a better job than you.”

“Once again, sorry. Please don’t stop telling me important things. I just got a little distracted. I’ll do better next time.”

“We’ll see. Now, I have to go gather the clan representatives and guide them to the Throne room. You think about what you could have caused.”

\-----

Takoma’s lifelong goal was to unite all the clans under her rule. This was no easy task. Her entire life she’s led so many meetings trying to persuade other leaders to join her coalition. She’s even led wars. Right now, there were only four clans left defying her. There was Louwoda Kliron, Boudalankru, Delfikru and of course, the most threatening, Azgeda. But if there was something that could get all of those different people together in the same room, it was fear. Fear of their common enemies: Mountain Men and Frikru.

Fear was the only reason all of them were entering the Throne room right now, taking their place around the big table, covered with maps and pawns. Only the leaders of clans and their seconds were allowed to attend this kind of meetings. No personal guards, no royal family and definitely no weapons. Every leader had a special chair at the table reserved for them while the seconds stood on their mentor’s right side. Seconds were not allowed to speak during the meeting. They were there to observe and learn, because most seconds sooner or later became leaders. The twelve children standing around the table will almost surely be the ones sitting at it in a few years.

The last guard left the room and closed the door behind him. The Commander stood up, which signaled the beginning of the meeting. She always gave the opening speech. Today she talked about how in the coalition if one clan is in danger then they all react. Trini wasn’t really listening, but she saw Nia roll her eyes at one point, and Ontari mimic her not long after. Trini was thinking about Lexa. She was beginning to wonder if she’s been too harsh.

Takoma gave the word to Ellic, King of Sankru and sat down. The king got up. He was technically a king but didn’t look the part. He couldn’t have been a lot older than Trini; he was bony, without any visible muscles, tanned and had short curly hair and big brown eyes.

“I came to ask our Commander for help because of a Frikru attack that happened a week ago. It was no ordinary pillaging. They came into one of our border cities in the middle of the day, pulled everyone from their houses and into the main square. There they threatened them for hours, killed some men and rode off. I demand they be punished! ” Ellic spoke with a lot of rage. He was aware of his boyish looks so he tried to make up for it in character.

Trini knew his entire life story since it was her job as a second to gather information on the people she’ll have to lead someday. He was the third son of the King and Queen of Sankru. He was never trained to lead. Never attended a meeting before he was crowned. His parents and brothers died from a terrible skin disease that devastated Sankru not long ago. Now it was just him and his little six-year-old sister Gem that was named his second.

“Then punish them. I don’t see how this concerns us.” Nia spoke up.

“We are not in your coalition and we don’t need to defend every little boy who is incompetent of solving his own problems.” The leader of Delfikru took Nia’s side.

“Those are acts of war. Not on Sankru, not on the coalition, but on all of us.” Leader of Podakru joined in.

“People, I have not called upon you today so that we can avenge those five or so men that were killed in the attack. I called you so that we can end Frikru once and for all. All of us lost people that went to join Frikru. And this attack will not be the last if we just do nothing!” Takoma spoke calmly but loudly.

“No. My people will not go. I’m not fighting your war. They are not my problem, but yours. They’d never go as far as the Rock Line.” Leader of Boudalankru interrupted Heda which usually wasn’t a good idea.

“You think just because you’re further from them they will spare you?” Takoma interrupted back.

“Actually, it’s as far as Podakru.” Trini said and then realized what she has done.

“Keep your mouth shut, seken.” Takoma waved a hand at her daughter.

“Oh, let her speak, Takoma. I remember when you were just a second, dying to speak up at a meeting.” That wise and quiet voice was coming from Talb, chief of Floukru, Luna’s mentor. He was an old man. Oldest at this table. He knew the Commander since she was a little Nightblood in training. He was generally a very gentle man. He never used punishment with Luna. He advised her the best he could and let her chose her own path.

“I will not be disrespected. She’s lucky I didn’t throw her out.”

“Do you know the distances between all the clans? No? Neither do I. So maybe it would be best we let the only person in this room that does tell us.” Talb smiled at Trini who was a bit relieved someone defended her. Luna smiled too.

“According to the new maps that were made. Boudalankru and Podakru are equally close to Frikru. Delfikru is even closer.” Trini spoke again, carefully looking at her mother for approval.

“Where are those new maps you speak of? Why didn’t you bring them out?” Takoma asked.

“I asked, but you said I mustn’t touch anything on the table.”

“Well, go get them girl.”

Trini walked over to the cupboard used for storing maps, portraits and similar papers. She was so excited for being the only second to ever be allowed to participate in a meeting. She opened the cupboard and couldn’t believe what she saw. Inside, among the papers sat Lexa and Costia. Lexa was handing her the map she needed. What were they thinking? This was close to treason! Eavesdropping on a leader meeting… Luckily no one could see them but her. She pulled herself together, took the map and closed the cupboard door.

She explained everything about the danger from Frikru on the new map. Her conclusion was that almost no one was safe. At the end, Takoma was almost proud. Of course, some clans argued they should hear the Frikru’s side first and then march to war. Takoma agreed and sent for a massager whose task was to bring the Frikru representatives to Polis for another meeting.

He was gone for no more than a few minutes when he came back.

“They’re here!” He yelled and was pushed aside by a man dressed in black.

Seven people entered, all in black, each with a gun at one of their sides and a sword at the other. Trini immediately recognized her father. He was standing in the middle, with two man guarding his left, two his right and two his back.

“What is the meaning of this?” Takoma immediately stood up and started shouting.

“All the seconds out! Now!” She continued. Trini was ready to argue back when she saw her dad wink at her. He obviously had everything under control and her making a scene wouldn’t bring any good. She went out of the room with the other seconds.

“She’ll just keep lying to all of us.” Trini mumbled when she was out of the room.

“What?” Luna came up to her friend.

Trini was angry. This time at her mother. All the seconds had a right to be there. She had a right to be there. She lied that Keni was dead and now she’s covering it up. Then Trini had an idea.

“Luna, I need you to listen to me carefully. You have to do exactly as I tell you. Gather all seconds and bring them to a room under the building. Tell them I need to talk to them. It’s time everyone found out the truth.”

“Trini what…”

“Exactly as I tell you!”

“Even Ontari?”

“No. No Ontari. Bring them down and then come back here and wait for Lexa and Costia to get out of the Throne room.”

“Why would they…”

“Just do it.” Trini added as she was leaving.

\-----

“What are you doing here?” Takoma was furious at Keni for just showing up like that.

“You called for us. You’re lucky we were already on our way here. Great minds think alike.” Keni smirked at the Commander. He did enjoy making her mad. Even when they were together.

“We called you to answer for your crimes.”

“Our crimes? Last week a third school was burned in our territory. We suffered attacks from Sankru for a while. The idea of us educating our children didn’t agree with some of you. And we tolerated it. Until last week when three children were burned with the school.”

“Did you know about this?” Takoma asked Ellic.

“No.” He answered shortly, embarrassed.

“I had to punish the monsters that did that to the people that I swore to protect. So we questioned people of a nearby Sankru town until we found the guilty men. Then we killed them. One shot, in the head. It was merciful.”

“Then there is only one question to be asked. What will it take for you to mount those horses of yours and ride out of town and never come back?” Takoma was trying to get Keni out of town as fast as possible to prevent her secret from getting out of this room. When she told everyone he was dead, she really thought she’ll never see him again. But there he was. Like old times.

“How many should I kill? Three? Thirty? The entire town. The entire clan? You name it.” She continued.

“I didn’t… My people are not all involved… Heda, you must…” King Ellic started arguing but was completely ignored.

“Justice has been done. Now, I am here on a completely different matter.” Keni pulled another chair to the table and sat down.

“And that is?”

“The Mountain Men. We have a plan to defeat them. Once and for all. We came to ask you to let our army pass through a few of your clans to get to their main gate.”

“Absolutely not.”

“We’re not asking for your help. Just that you don’t attack us when you see us pass.”

“If you attack the Mountain you will lose. And they will punish all of us for it.”

“If you do not let us pass, Frikru will have no choice but to attack you first! Would you rather defend the Mountain than let us defeat it?”

“How brave of you to storm my capital and threaten me in my own home.”

“You could use some bravery yourself.”

“That’s it. I want to talk to the Frikru leader. Alone. Everyone out!” Takoma sounded determined.

The clan leaders didn’t even think to object her. They knew about her history with Keni. Frikru was reluctant to leave their general alone, but he gave them a reassuring nod and soon the former lovers were alone in the room.

For a few moments neither of them spoke, they just looked at each other. When they last spoke it was in this exact room, but they were both ten years younger. He told her he was leaving. Takoma was remembering that moment. Seeing him walk out the door. It broke her heart then and now it felt like it was breaking all over again.

\-----

The seconds stood in an almost completely dark room in the basement of the tower. They were silent, waiting. Trini soon joined them entering with ten or so Nightbloods carrying torches.

“Now, everybody gather around. I have important things to share with you, but first I need you to swear you will not tell a living soul about this meeting today.” Trini stood near one corner of the room. Soon everyone turned to her and stared, not knowing what to do. As the Main Natblida she did have some authority over them, but not a lot of them had a reason to trust her.

“What is this, Trini?”

“Why did you call us?”

“Who gave you the right?”

There were a lot of questions coming from the crowd. Trini tried to answer them one by one but no one was able to hear her from the noise they were making. Then Trini whistled as loudly as she could and everyone went quiet.

“We have every right, as seconds, to be up there in that meeting. We are the future of the clans and we should have a say in problems like this. Frikru broke into our city and we are put on the sidelines. Not anymore! They can have their council upstairs because we will have one right here!”

“And who will lead it? You? You are not Heda yet. We don’t have to listen to you!” One of the Nightblidas called Don stepped closer to Trini.

“I’m not saying I am. I’m saying we are being lied to and need to stick together to get to the truth. Now I have some information the rest of you don’t, so I’m speaking now.”

“Why should you decide who speaks when?” Someone yelled from the back of the crowd.

“Because you’re the Commander’s daughter?” Don asked, smirking. He was number three Natblida, while Trini and Lexa were one and two. This made him very jealous.

“No. Because I can beat every other person in this room in combat and because I had the idea.”

Don didn’t like what he heard so he stepped up and challenged Trini. He was on the floor with Trini’s foot on his face in seconds.

“Can we continue now?” Trini let Don go join the others.

“This fighting, it’s pointless. It’s going to be us up there one day. Look around you. These people you see might have to decide your fate one day. You might desperately need their help. Or they’ll ask for yours. They want us to think we’re enemies. Rivals. But we’re not. We need each other now, and we’ll need each other in the future even more.”

The whole room was quiet listening to Trini. They were turning around the room looking at the faces surrounding them. Maybe there was some truth to what she was saying?

“Whoever ends up becoming Heda, it doesn’t matter, will need all of your help running things. Now will you try and make a difference with me now, or just let the adults control everything?”

\-----

Lexa and Costia were still sitting in that cupboard listening in on the meeting. Now when it was just Takoma and Keni in the room, staring at each other, the girls peeked through a crack in the wooden door.

“That’s my dad. Come see my dad.” Lexa whispered and made room for Costia to see.

“You think he is going to stay with you?”

“No. He wants to go. I think my mother is going to attack him like Trini.”

\-----

“I see you’re doing well, _General_.” Takoma broke the silence between her and Keni.

“It’s not like that.”

“Well, it looks like you didn't leave for the freedom, books and voting. You left because you wanted to role.”

“Takoma, you know me. I didn't want this. I just got the job because I learned so much from being with you. From watching you lead. We decide everything together, anyway.”

“Then, why?”

“Because I want a better world, and I believe Frikru can achieve it. There was a time when you wanted that, too, houmon [honey].” He was getting closer and closer to her with every sentence.

“So, your brilliant plan is to start a war we can't win?” Takoma put on a brave face, but inside it felt like she was breaking.

“We can win. If you help us. We can stop this silly dispute between our people. I could come to visit whenever I wanted.” he paused for a second, “The girls would get their nonti [daddy] back.”

Takoma couldn’t hold back any more. Her eyes filled with tears. Keni noticed it and immediately took her hand and squeezed it tightly. He didn’t want to let go. Ever.

“I saw them, houmon. They're beautiful, strong. I found them in the woods and I asked them to leave with me.”

“They didn't tell me anything.”

“Don't be mad at them. They refused. Trini, oh dear, she's so grown-up.”

“She likes to stir up trouble, like her father.” Takoma smiled, just slightly. She missed talking to him about their children.

“She almost put a sword through me when I tried to touch her sister. I’ve never been more proud.”

“She's to be Commander one day. ... It was hard on her when you left.”

“I know... And Lexa. The last time I saw her she was barely walking.”

“You were gone for ten years! What did you expect? Did you even think about us?” Takoma got slightly mad again. No matter what he said the feeling of betrayal didn’t go away.

“Of course I did. We have scouts; I knew you were safe and happy. But seeing it... It's a lot. Honestly, I thought you'd want to kill me on sight.”

“I did. Do you have any idea how hard it was to tell Trini her dad will never come home? To tell Lexa she'll never meet him?”

“You told them I was dead. And I don't blame you.”

“They missed you.”

“And I missed them. I thought about them every day.” he paused and looked deep into her eyes, “About you.”

He leaned in and kissed her. Takoma wasn’t expecting it, but when she felt his lips on hers she didn’t even think about backing away.

They kissed like no time has passed. Like it this was just another day of their life together.

They kissed like they were all alone in the world and had all the time they could possibly want.

They kissed because what they were feeling for each other was too complicated to put into words.

They kissed because they both knew they may never have another chance ever again.

They stopped kissing after a while and pulled away from each other. Takoma was in tears and Keni has teared up a bit too.

“I love you, but I will not go to war for it.” Takoma said after a while.

“Houmon, please be on my side in this.”

“I can't. You may be ready to die for this, but I'm not ready to put my people in danger. The Mountain will strike back on all of us if you fail.”

“So you will rather go to war to protect your enemies then to kill them?”

“You leave me no other choice.”

“Fine. I give you three days to reconsider. Then Frikru goes to war.” Keni turned around, walked to the door and roughly slammed it behind him. Takoma took a few deep breaths to put her emotions in check again and followed him.

\-----

As soon as the room was clear Costia and Lexa snuck out the same way they snuck in. They were surprised to see Luna waiting there for them. She didn’t explain anything to them, because she honestly didn’t know what Trini was planning. She just took them to see her.

Trini was still giving a speech when they arrived at the basement. By now she shared the news about her father with everyone. When she saw her little sister she invited her to join her.

“Lexa and Costia were just acquiring more information about Frikru. Lexa, come and share it with everyone! Costia you, too!”

“It was retaliation. Sankru burned their schools. That’s why they did it.” Lexa started.

“And three children were burned, too. The King didn’t know the whole truth.” Costia joined in.

“But that is not why they came here. They plan to defeat the Mountain Men and they asked for safe passage through our clans. But the Commander said no.”

“She fears the Mountain and is ready to go to war to stop Frikru from attacking them.”

Everyone listened quietly to the girls report. It was the first time any of them thought that maybe, just maybe, Frikru wasn’t that bad. That maybe they were on the wrong side of this. All of them were confused. From the young Sankru Princess to Trini.

“I think we can all agree that we don’t know enough about Frikru to face them on the battlefield, not by far. We don’t know where their camp is, how many men and weapons they have… And we can’t defeat an enemy like that. If the leaders up there are too blind to see that, then we must change their minds.” Trini picked up where Costia left off.

“What can we do?” Princess Gem asked.

“We can do anything. You can make a difference. Right now. You all have to talk to your mentors. Find out where they stand. How much of this they understand. Talk to the people of your clans. See if someone has seen or heard anything about Frikru. Tomorrow we meet here at first light to figure out whether we will be helping Heda win this war or helping stop it.”

\-----

A little later Trini and Lexa were summoned to the Commander’s room. They came fearing the worst. If their mother somehow found out about their little resistance forming earlier today, they would be in serious trouble.

“I have spoken to the guards. Neither of you are allowed to leave this tower for the next three days.” Takoma said indifferently. Trini felt dizzy. _She knew. It was all over before it even started._

“I can’t let him get to you.” Their mother continued. _This was about Keni. That was a relief._

“Mother I told him we were not coming with him. I scared him. He won’t take us away. Ever.” Didn’t matter how cruel her mother was. Trini still loved her and she could see that this lock down was her way of saying she couldn’t bear losing them. All this time she was thinking about what Keni did to her and her sister, but she never wondered how it affected her mother. She was more caring before. Happy.

“We’re here for you mother. For anything.” Trini wanted to comfort her, but couldn’t find the words. Trini looked at Lexa, hoping she could say something sweat, but Lexa just ran to her mom and hugged her. Takoma wasn’t a fan of displays of emotion, but she really needed that hug after the day she had.

“This is good. Because we are threatened. And we need to be united, now more than ever.”

 “Then let us help you. With the plan. Trust us.” Trini offered.

“We can do it, nomi [mommy].” Lexa looked up at her mother, still hugging her.

“I suppose you are both old enough. And we will take down Frikru together. Like a family.” Takoma was proud to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, important developments:  
> \- Luna and Lincoln start to like each other  
> \- Trini and Lexa find out their dad is in fact alive and is the leader of the infamous Frikru clan. His name is Keni (faceclaim -- Barry Sloane).  
> \- Frikru wants to attack Mount Weather, but needs passage through the other clans and the Commander refuses to provide it. If this doesn’t change in three days Keni has threatened with war  
> \- Trini has started a secret council of Nightbloods and clan seconds  
> Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are most welcome…  
> And yes, Roanya is a thing… Don’t judge me. I regret nothing…


	4. Allies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth chapter here… Sorry if I made any mistakes, English is only my second language.  
> I will try and post a new chapter every week. There are six more.

“So, best case scenario we have to deal with three clans worth of Free-People. Right? ”

“Worst case scenario?”

“Let’s just say it’ll be one of us for each one of them.”

“So, what then?”

“Let’s say two more fingers, Rale.”

Trini was under the impression that bringing a map to their secret meeting site was too dangerous. That’s why today, when they really needed it, they were forced to improvise. Several suggestions were made. They ended up using their hands. Trini was very familiar with the map of the known world. She spent many nights studying it, after all. And she had the skill required to arrange the seconds’ fists in the proper way to represent a map. Then they would hold out fingers to represent the number of people. Each finger was five hundred.

“This isn’t working, Trini.” Luna looked at her friend in concern.

“I know. Even if only half of them had guns.” Trini stepped back to think.

“We don’t know how much ammo they have. Maybe they’re short.” Don tried to contribute.

“No, no. We need Azgeda to win. We have to acquire an Ice Nation representative.” Trini spoke up.

“Not Ontari?” Luna asked.

“Ontari is too loyal to the Queen. Does anyone know someone else who we could trust?”

Everyone was quiet. Not a single hand in the air. The truth was Azgeda mostly couldn’t be trusted. They didn’t exactly try to make friends. Just like their Queen they didn’t want anything to do with the other clans. They considered themselves special.

“Fine. We’ll come back to that next time. Meeting adjourned.” Trini gave everyone a hand signal and soon they were all clearing out of the room. By now they’ve learned that exiting at the same time arises too much suspicion, so they left the room in pairs until there was no one left but Trini, Lexa and Luna.

“You were great today, Trini. The opening speech was inspiring.” Luna patted her best friend’s back.

“I liked it, too.” Lexa smiled.

“Well, I can make a thousand great speeches, but it wouldn’t get us anywhere. We need someone to represent the Ice Nation or we’re doing all of this for nothing. Isn’t there anyone from there who has a normal relationship with Trikru?” Trini was looking desperate.

“I actually have a suggestion”, Lexa just remembered there was one person from Azgeda that she didn’t hate, “Roan. You should ask Roan.”

“Prince Roan? Lexa, I appreciate you trying to help, but he is Nia’s son. He would never go for it. Would you help someone work behind your mother’s back?”

“I’m helping you.” Lexa smirked.

“That’s different. I’m your sister. I have no connection to Roan.”

“But Anya has.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw them kiss. In the woods. They thought me and Costia couldn’t see them, but I did.”

“He must be the mystery man.” Luna sounded excited.

“Lexa, I need you to be absolutely sure.” Trini immediately saw an opportunity. She didn’t like blackmail, but sometimes the end justifies the means. She already had a certain pull over Anya for that lie about abandoning Lexa and now she had this as well.

“I’m sure.”

“Then that’s settled.”

“What will you do?” Luna asked.

“I am going to have a little chat with the Prince of Azgeda. And I need you to go and help Lincoln. He’s asking around to see what the people think about the upcoming war. When you’re done come to my room.”

Luna and Lexa left the room. Trini started putting out all the torches they’ve used and slowly started climbing the stairs.

When you have the faith of every man in the 12 clans to worry about it’s not uncommon that something slips your mind. It’s easy to get distracted. In the last three days since these secret meetings started Trini has been quite forgetful. She’s lost a couple of throwing knives here and there. She also skipped quite a few meals, since she just forgot about them. And now, she was supposed to be training with her master Indra. She wouldn’t have remembered at all if Indra wasn’t waiting for her at the top of the stairs from the basement.

“Enjoying our morning, are we?” Indra asked, calmly.

“Indra, I… I was just looking for my sister to send her on her training. I didn’t mean to be late.” Trini was so scared. If Indra was here for long she could have seen all the seconds and Nightbloods exit their meeting. This was trouble.

“I just saw Lexa and Anya walk pass me. Anyway, whether Lexa makes it to her training is not your concern.”

“My sister _is_ my concern.” Trini wasn’t letting up. She knew if she did Indra would know something was wrong. Trini had to be just as stubborn and disrespectful as she usually was if she planned to keep this secret.

“Fine then. Let’s walk to the training room. That should give me enough time to think of a punishment for you.”

\-----

Costia sat in a very uncomfortable chair. Across the table from her was Keni, general of Frikru and his two guards. All of them knew Costia wasn’t supposed to be here. She was just ten years old, had no experience when it came to negotiating, wars or strategy. But yet, she was here talking to an enemy leader trying to prevent a war.

Since both Lexa and Trini were forbidden from leaving the tower, Costia was the one that had to go and talk to their father. He and his men were camping just out of town waiting for the Commander’s answer to their request. For the first time the fact that Takoma payed very little attention to Costia was a good thing. The little girl managed to slip into the Frikru camp a number of times in these few days. As soon as she said Trini sent her Keni agreed to see her. Keni asked her to pass a lengthy apology to his daughters for him and also to tell him a little about each one of them. He also told Costia the real story of how Frikru came to be, hoping his daughters will change their views of the situation.

It went down like this. Two generations ago there was a real shortage of Nightbloods. The only one old enough to be the Commander was a really cruel, bothering on insane, man. He did as he pleased, so there were a lot of people who wanted him dead. There was also a group of people that though this was the right time to abandon this belief in the Commander’s spirit and start choosing the wisest among them to lead. The Commander found out and tried to have that entire group killed. They escaped far, into the desert. There they joined with some wonderers who had some useful knowledge and Frikru was born. A clan of people committed to rebuilding humanity as it once was. Now, they take in children and adults who need a new home and teach them their ways. The recruitment is always voluntary. Keni himself was recruited by a Frikru member alongside other people and followed them into the desert.

 Today, however, Costia was here to discuss peace between him and the Commander.

“So that is what you came here for? To ask for more time?” Keni stared at the little girl. He tried not to be rude since she was just the messenger, but the offer was unacceptable.

“Trini is trying to talk Heda into taking your offer. She was unsuccessful so far and she is asking for more time.” Costia rocked her feet that hang from the high chair.

“It is very sweet of Trini to try and talk some sense into her mother, but unfortunately Takoma will never change. I will not waist another day here.”

“One day isn’t that long. And it could stop a war and save countless lives.”

“I said no. I’m sorry. Tell my girls I am. But there’s nothing I can do. Trini is skilled but she is not the Commander and has no power to stop this. I will wait here until sunset and then Frikru is at war.”

Costia tried to say something, but couldn’t form the sentence.

“You better get back home. It’s almost time.” Keni finished.

\-----

It was, indeed, time. Takoma knew what she had to do. She had to go face Keni, the man she once loved, one more time and tell him _no_. Like seeing him again after all these years wasn’t hard enough, now she will have to go to war against him.

She walked through the halls of the tower like a ghost. She has already decided she won’t accept his offer, but still she was thinking it over one more time. With the corner of her eye she saw Indra walking with her older daughter.

Takoma knew Indra for a long time. It’s true they didn’t always see eye to eye, but Indra was as loyal as a person could be. Neither one of them would go so far as to say they are friends. They just had respect for each other. Takoma felt like this would come easier to her if Indra was with her so she ordered her to leave Trini and accompany her outside the gates. Indra of course obeyed and Trini got her chance to talk to Roan.

She got lucky and found him in the tower fairly soon. Usually he was roaming about in the forest.

“I need to see you in private, Prince. Would you follow me to my room?” Trini approached the young man.

“I’m sorry, skaipeka [little bird]. You’re not really my type.” Roan smirked.

“Not that”, Trini rolled her eyes, “Believe me. You want to hear this.”

He was amused at how serious she was, so he followed her in hopes he’d get a laugh.

“What is it then?” Roan asked arrogantly once they were alone in her room.

“Yeah, what could we talk about? Maybe our mutual friends. That seems interesting.” Trini walked in a circle around him.

“What mutual friends? I don’t hang around with children.”

“Not children, no. You’re too busy with Anya.”

“Who?”

“That’s what you’re going with. _Who?_ That is bad…”

“Are you implying that I lied?”

“I am not implying anything. I am disappointed you’re not a better liar. I will need you to lie for what comes next.”

“Now when I think about it, I believe I once trained with someone named Anya.”

“Just stop it, will you? Lexa saw you kissing. And my mother will believe her children, so I practically own you now.”

“What do you want? And please say it’s not a kiss.”

“Oh, get over yourself. You’re not that good-looking.”

“So? What will it take to keep that mouth of yours shut?”

“Now, I need you to focus. What I am about to tell you is very important and secret.”

“Fine, bluma [flower]. Talk. You have my undivided attention.”

“After today we are at war with Frikru. The Commander is going into this war with no motive and no knowledge of the enemy. She didn’t want to listen to my advice. So… I formed a small council out of the seconds and the Nightbloods. To see if it is indeed in the best interest of the coalition to fight this war. All we need is an Azgeda representative.”

“So you want me to sneak behind my mother’s back to cover up sneaking behind her back?”

“No. I want you to save lives by preventing a war with me.”

Roan smirked. He never looked at Trini as more than just a child. A stupid little girl that got all the perks for being a Nightblood as well as the Commander’s daughter. She was pretty, he couldn’t deny her that and as he heard skilled at combat, but a military mind? No.

“Did I say something funny?” Trini was a bit offended by his attitude.

“I find it funny, that you like to play council with your little friends.”

At that moment Costia entered the room followed by Lincoln and Luna. She was saying something in a hurry, but quickly shut up when she saw Roan standing there.

“No. Go ahead, Costia. He’s one of us now. Tell us how the negotiation went.” Trini shared a meaningful look with Roan. It’s like she was teasing him.

“Well, the General listened to the offer and declined. He said that he knows how stubborn Takoma is and that no one can change her mind.”

“You went to the General? Who are you anyway?” Roan was a bit confused. What kind of a leader would receive a little girl for negotiation?

Trini completely ignored the Prince and walked over to Costia, putting her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

“Did you try tearing up? Or crying? That had to work.”

“I followed him out of the tent and burst into tears. I even told him you and Lexa were like sisters to me. Nothing. He only said if you were the Commander he’d reconsider. But, you’re not.” Costia stopped to take a breath.

“He only offered to help you escape and join Frikru.” she continued.

“That will never happen. He can forget it.”, Trini walked over to Lincoln, “Did you two have any more luck?”

“They’re satisfied to finally stand up to Frikru.” said Lincoln.

“We tried to ask around for someone that was starting a riot against the Commander, but there is no one. Everybody hates Frikru. They are ready to die fighting them.” Luna sighed.

“That will change as soon as they see what we’re dealing with. It’s too late anyway. My mother is on her way there now. She’ll tell the General her answer remains the same and that is it. He’ll come back with an army.”

Roan was listening carefully. He was beginning to think maybe he judged Trini too soon. She spoke like she was an experienced leader. Her people seemed to be devoted to her. Maybe she was serious about this.

“What is the plan, then?” He asked, finally with a serious expression on his face.

“Negotiation has failed. We’re at war. I respect the Commander, but she is not taking this seriously. She has no idea what she’s up against. We need to find out.” Trini was feeling a change in his attitude.

“So you plan to take the Throne?”

“No. We help the Commander. Work in the shadows. We’re mostly children. No one takes us seriously. We take advantage of that.”

“How many men are on your side? How many can you trust?”

“Twenty, twenty-five at most. That is plenty for what I am trying to do.”

“Well, you have me too now. And I’ll talk to Anya. She always spoke highly of you.”

“Now, has your mother said anything to you that we might find useful?”

“I regret having to tell you this, but as soon as your mother leaves Polis to fight Frikru, the Queen’s army will storm the capital and take it for themselves.” Roan felt a bit guilty, sharing that, but Anya’s life was at stake. If the Commander found out, so would Nia. And she was capable of unspeakable things if she thought she was protecting her child.

“That is her plan? To take Polis?”

“Hold the capital, hold the state. That’s what she always thought me.”

“You will tell this to my council. Take Lincoln, find a secure place to meet and then find the other members.”

“Your wish is my command, Strikheda [little commander].” Roan faked a bow and started walking out.

At that moment, Indra opened the door. She was expecting to find Trini, alone, getting ready for their training, but there she was with her sister’s friend, a boy from Ton DC, the Floukru second and the Azgeda Prince. It didn’t take a very smart person to tell this wasn’t normal. They appeared to have been in the middle of a very serious discussion and stopped as soon as they saw her.

“What is happening here?” Indra raised her voice.

“We were just getting to know each other.” Roan’s annoying smirk came back.

“You listen to me Ice Nation scum; you have no right to be in a room belonging to the Commander’s daughter. I will never see you near her again, is that clear?”

“Indra!” Trini yelled. Her master had a tendency to be overly-protective from time to time. This was one of those times.

Roan left immediately and the others soon followed. After calming down Indra finally gave Trini her punishment. Since Frikru left the capital she was now allowed to leave the tower. Her master gave her the usual punishment. There was a river, at the edge of Trikru territory. It was called the Purple River, because the rocks in it were all covered with purple algae. Trini had to bring one to Indra while it was still wet from the river.

\-----

Costia had to find Lexa and bring her to the meeting with Roan. The only problem was she didn’t even know where to start looking. Luckily she soon heard the sound of swords clashing and followed it.

There she found Lexa sword fighting with Ontari in the middle of the hallway. There were a few guards watching and of course Queen Nia. First Costia was a bit scared for her best friend but soon realized they were fighting with dull swords.

Ontari was fighting very aggressively. She was trying hard, but totally forgetting defense. Lexa took advantage of that and “stabbed” her.

“Dead!” Lexa yelled and giggled.

“I should have known! You are pathetic! Of course you couldn’t beat her. We will just have to harden your training.” Nia immediately stood up and started pulling Ontari by her hand. The little girl looked really scared.

“I have a special punishment for you today.” the Queen continued.

“Come on, Lexa. Trini needs us for another meeting.” Costia walked over to her friend. Lexa was just looking in the direction Nia took Ontari.

“We must help her.” Lexa said calmly.

“We must what?” Costia hoped she understood her friend wrong.

“Help Ontari. She fought well. She’s improved since the last time we fought, but it doesn’t matter to Nia. She’ll punish her just because I’m better.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“She’s in the same position we were. We must help her, Costia. It’s the right thing to do.”

\-----

“He said to meet them here?” Luna asked worried.

“Yeah. Right here near the waterfall. I don’t understand…” Lincoln was confused. He parted with Roan here and now there he was nowhere to be found.

“They’ll come eventually. I think you and I finally have some alone time. And we deserve it.”, Luna leaned in and kissed him, “We can start where we left of at the flower field.”

Lincoln sat down on a rock close to the waterfall and Luna settled on his lap. They were taking turns kissing and gazing into each other’s eyes. Luna felt so good with him. Like there was nothing else in the world.

“When you’re done, we’re all waiting.” she heard Trini’s voice. She suddenly opened her eyes and jumped off Lincoln when she saw Trini standing next to them.

“Aren’t you supposed to be half way to the Purple River by now?” Luna pulled herself together.

“Even if we didn’t have more important things to do, I wouldn’t go. I always have a few of them here. Just in case.”

“Smart. I don’t see the others. When are they coming?”

“Follow me.” Trini walked into the waterfall from the side and disappeared. Luna followed and then Lincoln. Inside was almost everyone standing in a circle around Roan and Anya. The two of them were holding hands.

“This is…” Luna started. She’s never even thought about being behind a waterfall, but it was absolutely beautiful and private, which they needed.

“Majestic? Roan’s idea.” Trini interrupted.

“It’s kind of our spot.” Roan looked at Anya and smiled.

“He was just telling us about his mother’s plan to take Polis. But you’ve already heard it. I just wonder where Lexa and Costia are.” Trini frowned.

“As I was saying”, Roan continued where he left off before the interruption, “The coalition is threatened by Nia and by the General. Personally, I think we better focus on Frikru, because I don’t think there is any way we could convince my mother to be on the same side as the Commander.”

The crowd turned to Trini.

“I agree with the Prince. We must come up with a strategy how to defeat them. I already have a plan in motion so you have no reason to worry. We will discuss this further tomorrow. The only thing you need to know is that since an hour ago we’re at war with Frikru.” Trini finished and the children slowly started leaving.

“You don’t have a plan, do you?” Roan whispered to her.

“Oh, shut up.”

\-----

Ontari kom Azgeda was a pretty fearless little girl. The only thing that absolutely terrified her were great heights. That is exactly why Nia chose to punish her by locking her in a very small room near the top of the tower that was missing a wall. Ontari had to stand inches from a fairly big fall. Nia, not unlike Takoma, loved using children’s fears to punish them.

There was even a guard posted in front of the room to make sure Ontari is properly punished. He was bored out of his mind, of course. If he wasn’t required to stand he would sure be asleep by now. He was day-dreaming a bit when something hard hit his head. He turned around to look for the source of his pain and saw Lexa standing not that far away, holding a bunch of rocks. She didn’t run when she was seen. She threw another rock, hitting his forehead.

“Stop it! I know who you are. You think just because the Commander is your nomon I won’t punch you?” he asked as his face turned all red with anger.

“That’s what I think.” Lexa smiled and threw another rock.

“Come here you little…” He tried to grab her but she quickly started running away laughing. He started chasing her and soon both of them were out of this hall. Then Costia walked over from the other side and leaned on the door he was guarding.

“Are you all right in there Ontari?” Costia asked.

“No…” Ontari’s voice was quiet and tremoring. You could easily tell that she’s been crying.

“Well, I’m going to get you out.” Costia stepped back and started kicking the lock on the door with a big rock. It broke almost instantly and the door opened. Ontari ran out still sobbing.

“You’re safe now.” Costia put a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t ask for your help.” Ontari answered.

\-----

In the meantime that guard was still chasing Lexa all through the tower. Lexa was just too fast for him. Unfortunately she slipped and fell. By the time she got up he was already pulling her hand. She tried to break free, but couldn’t. This surely wasn’t a part of the plan. Next, he raised her a few inches from the floor holding her by her shoulders and pinned her to a wall.

“You are going to pay for that.” he said.

Lexa was scared, but didn’t scream, or change her expression. She was not going to give him the satisfaction.

“What do you think you’re doing, man? Put her down this instant!” Takoma was just walking by when she saw an Ice Nation warrior attacking her younger daughter.

“Commander, I… I didn’t… She…” he let go of Lexa.

“I might not be the Commander of Azgeda but you will not come to my home and attack my children. Are you hurt, Lexa?”

“I’m fine, nomi. It was a misunderstanding.” Lexa smiled.

“There better not be another one. Or I’ll have your head decorating the gates to Polis.” Takoma turned to the man.

He nodded and went back to his post without saying a word.

\-----

Later Takoma returned to her chamber to find Trini there waiting for her.

“You wish to speak to me?” Takoma took off her shoulder guard.

“I do. It’s about-” Trini started but was interrupted.

“Help me with this, would you?”

“Sure, mother.” Trini approached her and started taking off the Commander’s armor.

“How was the meeting with dad?” The younger woman continued.

“I wouldn’t call it a meeting. I walked up to their camp and said I’m not going to fight against the Mountain with him. That is all.”

“I meant how are you feeling? Dad leaving and all?”

“Trini. You know that Heda must never let emotions dictate her actions.” Takoma said that, but today was difficult for her. A part of her wanted to share that with Trini. And just cry on her shoulder for a while. But she couldn’t allow it. Anyway, now that Keni was gone she was finally getting her emotions back into balance.

“Of course I do.”

“What did you want to ask me?”

“It’s about Indra. I am seventeen years old, mother, and still follow her around like I’m a child. I believe I am far too old to still be a second. I am a skilled warrior and I think I don’t require a master anymore.” Trini knew she won’t be able to sneak around without Indra finding out for much longer. She needed to distance herself from her.

“You are the Main Natblida. You’ll be the Commander’s second until my death, when you’ll likely succeed me. As for Indra. If you are no longer a second, you must pick a second. That is the offer.”

“But mother, usually a warrior has a few years to gain experience and only then is he given a second.”

“You are not any warrior. You are a Nightblood and you can’t just do nothing for a few years. Be a second or be a master. Your choice.”

\-----

Trini was furious. How dare her mother create special rules just for her? Now if she wants to stop Indra from checking on her every day, she will have to have a little kid following her around. It was a nightmare. She had to think carefully about her next move. She stepped into her room, hoping to have some quiet time to ponder, but her room was already occupied. Lexa and Costia were lying on the floor around a board with colorful stones on it. It was a game Trini invented. There was someone else with them. Trini didn’t believe her eyes. It was Ontari! Ontari was in her room, playing with her sister.

“Lexa, Costia, a word please.” Trini said calmly. The girls followed her out of the room.

“Why is Ontari in my room? What is happening?” She asked once they were outside in the hall.

“Nia was torturing her. Making her stay in that room with no outer wall. We had to.” Lexa explained.

“Had to what? What did you do?”

“We broke her out.”

“You… Did anyone see you?”

“No, Trini. We had to help her. Second to second. Like you always say. We have to be there for each other.”

 “I know what I always say. But getting between the Ice Queen and her second? We could be in serious trouble.”

“I told her.” Costia was beginning to regret listening to Lexa.

“Doesn’t matter now anyway. What is done is done.” Trini turned around and entered the room. She sat down on the floor opposite Ontari and looked at her.

“Are you hurt?” she asked seeing a stream of black blood pouring from the girl’s forehead.

“No. Not really. Every time I disappoint my Queen she draws the symbols on my face one more time.” Ontari answered.

“With her knife?” Costia was horrified. How could someone be so cruel?

“Yes. She says I should be honored. One day the scars will symbolize my hard training.” Ontari touched her wounds.

Trini looked at them too. She always had a soft spot for children.

“My mother used to hurt me too.” She lifted her shirt and showed Ontari the scars on her back. They weren’t kill marks. They were reminders of the time her mother cut her and burned her. Maybe they weren’t so different.

“What did you do?” Ontari leaned in to look at the scars more closely. Trini had quite a number of them. Many of them overlapped and looked very deep.

“Mostly nothing. She wanted to make me strong. This is from a sharp piece of metal,” Trini pointed to a particular scar, “and this one is from a burning metal shaft.”

“I got that one the first time she caught me kissing a boy,” Trini continued, “She called me weak. But I am not. I know that now. And you are not either. You’re not alone in this.”

Trini took Ontari’s hand since she saw she had the girl’s full attention and admiration at the moment. Ontari looked over to Lexa.

“Did your mother ever-” Ontari started.

“No. She tried to punish Lexa once. With some kind of whip. But I jumped in the way and took the punches for her. I’d never let anyone hurt my sister,” Trini removed her shirt from her shoulder and showed yet another scar, “That’s why this is the one I’m most proud of. I took it to protect someone. This one means something. It represents love, not hate.”

Ontari didn’t know what to say to that. She looked up and down the older girl’s back and wondered if that is what she’ll have to go through too.

“Now, how long were you supposed to be locked in there?” Trini asked.

“An hour.”

“This is what you do. You can stay here until the time comes. No one will look for you here, it’s safe. Then you will find the guard and tell him you won’t tell Nia he lost you if he doesn’t tell her you escaped.”

“But I can’t lie to the Queen.”

“Listen to me. Second to second. Nothing bad will happen if you don’t tell her about one little thing. You have a chance at becoming Commander one day, just like us. You have to learn to think for yourself. Be your own person. You are a Natblida, that means Nia doesn’t have the right to control you and neither does anyone else.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thins important to the plot:  
> \- Trini’s “council” gets Roan and Anya  
> \- Trini is offered to get a second of her own  
> \- Frikru and the Coalition are at war!  
> \- Nia is planning to attack Polis while Takoma is fighting Frikru  
> \- Lexa and Costia are befriending Ontari  
> Hope you’re enjoying the story…


	5. Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the half of the story. I sincerely hope somebody is reading this. Anyway I would appreciate it if you told me what you like and don’t like about the story… I’m thirsty for feedback.

“You called for me, Strikheda?” Luna said smiling. She was just informed by Costia that her presence was required in Trini’s room.

“Is everyone going to call me that now?” First it was Roan, then Costia this morning, and now this.

“We’ll see. So what is going on?”

“I finally have an idea how to find out if my dad is telling the truth about Frikru. If they really are the tolerant equality-lovers they say they are.”

“How?”

“My dad is recruiting. He’s going around the clans, one village at a time, making speeches and raising his army. And a lot of people are joining him. And so will someone from our group.”

“What?”

“I need someone to pretend to join Frikru to gain intel on them and then pass it off to me. I was hoping it would be you.”

“You want me to join Frikru?”

“Yes. I want you to join their army; make friends, get a look at their capabilities. But I will not make you do anything. It’s entirely up to you. Take a few days, think about it…”

“I’m in.”

“Luna…”

“I don’t need to think about it. I am doing it. Also, we don’t have a few days and you know it.”

Roan also had some information he had to share with Trini so he rushed from the entrance to her room’s door. He slowly cracked it open when he saw she wasn’t alone. The conversation seemed serious so he didn’t want to interrupt. He just stood there, peaking through the crack and listening carefully. More like eavesdropping. It was force of habit with him.

“You need to be sure, Luna. It could be quite dangerous. We don’t know these people.”

“That’s why I’m doing this, right? So what if your dad is laying? What if they are as bad as your mother?”

“Then you escape and we tell everything you managed to find out to Heda. And we take Frikru down.”

“And if he’s telling the truth? We’ll still crush them?”

“Then you’ll tell Keni the truth. Lincoln and I will pack everyone and we’ll join Frikru, too. For real. ”

“You’re going to tell your mother?”

“No. Just me, Lincoln, Lexa, Costia, Roan and Anya. The seconds can go if they want to, but I doubt they will. Most of them won’t leave their families.”

“And what makes you think Roan will?”

“He loves Anya, it’s obvious. He’s not that bad, he’ll do better without his mother anyway. And I’m not leaving them behind to be charged with treason for something that I started.”

Roan couldn’t keep listening after that so he knocked and entered.

“I did what you asked, Strikheda. Keni’s at Floukru today.” he said causing Trini to roll her eyes.

“Great job. You can go now. That’s all I needed.”

“I’m sorry but I overheard a part of your conversation. You’re sending her as a spy?”

“I am. You want to make fun of that too?”

“Far from it. I thought I could take her to Floukru to Keni. We’ll take my horse, wear disguises, and nobody will recognize us.”

“Why are you doing this? Why should I trust you?” Trini had every right to be suspicious. He’s acted like this whole thing is a big joke since the beginning. He only listened to her to protect Anya.

“I want to swear loyalty to you. For real. Because I believe in you, Strikheda.”

“Where is this coming from?”

“Who else would I be loyal to? My mother never cared about what I wanted. She only sees me as an heir. Your mother, the Commander, thinks of me as a way to hurt the Queen. Nothing more. You are the only one that ever cared what happens to me. You care about every single person that follows you. You are the only real leader amongst them. You are as loyal to your subject as they are to you.”

“How about we skip the oaths with all the meaningless words and go straight to actions. Let me have a few minutes with Luna to explain to her what she has to do and then take her to Keni.”

\-----

Roan kept his promise to Trini. He and Luna rode through the woods all the way to the shore. He followed the see line until they came to a small secluded beach. He had a friend who tipped him off that Frikru will be there. Roan’s face wasn’t as recognizable as Trini’s was, at least not this far south, but he was the Prince of Azgeda. As soon as Luna got of the horse he rode off just to be safe.

Luna took a deep breath and put on her hoodie. She slowly walked over to a crowd of people gathered around Keni. She had only seen him once before today and it was only for a brief moment in the Throne room. She tried to blend in while also checking if there were any people she knew. Keni was giving a speech about equality and standing up for yourself against the Mountain, but she wasn’t really listening.

With the corner of her eye she noticed a man she knew. He was her master’s bodyguard and one of his most trusted men. He would recognize her for sure if he got a look at her face. And what was he doing here anyway? He and master Talb were like family. She would have never thought he would betray him like that. She watched him closely. He seemed interested in the speech at first, but then he winked at someone and started slowly reaching for his weapon.

“Guards! Watch out!” Luna screamed and tackled the man. Keni and his people immediately started loading the gathered people onto the carts they brought that were pulled by horses. A few of them went to help her and soon she was on one of the carts as well.

“Thank you. He could have killed me… I’m General Keni.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s not fair, what they’re doing. We should be allowed to leave if we wish to.”

“I couldn’t agree more. So what makes you want to join us?”

“I want to fight the Mountain Men. I can do that if I am with you.” Trini warned Luna not to mention that she was a second because then they’ll expect information from her.

“Lose someone?”

“My parents.” Luna lied. Her dad was alive and honestly, she was missing him a bit. It felt weird to come back to Floukru and not go to see him. But this was more important.

During the long ride to Frikru the passages shared things about themselves and bonded. Luna told everyone the sad story of how her parents died which was actually made up by Trini. The other people on the cart besides her and Keni were almost all children. There was a family of a father, mother and their two children, then a mother with a daughter then reminded her of a young Trini, and three children that were completely alone, probably orphans judging by their clothes. There were also two grown men, but it was obvious Keni wasn’t recruiting an army. He was just trying to save these people from what was coming. It’s always the innocent that are hurt in a war.

\-----

Far in the North, or the West, Luna wasn’t so sure, in the middle of the desert they arrived at the Frikru city. It was built out of the remains of an old city that were partly covered in sand. Around the city there was a big fence with guards posted in front of it. Luna got off the cart with all the others just outside the gates. A man came and took the empty cart and the horses inside, but the people had to form a line in front of the gate. They were told they had to be washed and then _written down_ ; whatever that meant.

Luna waited patiently with the others. They were led inside by a solder and into a building. Inside there was a room filled with pools of warm water and buckets. They were separated into males and females and instructed to throw away their clothes and wash up. They were given black shirts and trousers that looked incredibly clean. Then they had to form a line again. Luna had no idea wat was going to happen to her now. One by one they were going over to Keni and talking to him for a while. When it was her turn she stepped close to Keni and waited for his instructions.

“I am just going to ask you a few questions about you and write them down here so I don’t forget. Does that sound acceptable?” He was holding a pencil and a piece of paper. Luna nodded.

“What is your name?” He asked the first question and she froze. She thought that maybe some people didn’t know her face but knew the name of the Floukru second.

“Is that a hard one? You can choose a new one if you’d like. But when I write it down you have to stick to it.” He smiled.

“It’s Luna. People really change their names?”

“They don’t like anything that reminds them of their old lives.”

“I don’t even know what I would change it to…”

“You look like a Leah to me. How do you like it?”

“Leah? I could get used to it.” As soon as she said it he took his pen and wrote it down. Luna just stared at the shapes on the paper. She never saw someone write right in front of her before.

“Now, how old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I know you wanted to fight the Mountain Men, but here you are considered a child if you are under sixteen.”

“So no one under sixteen fights?” Luna felt like she was going to pass out. She was all alone in enemy territory and now she couldn’t follow her orders.

“Children between twelve and sixteen need their parents’ approval.”

“But my parents are dead.”

“That’s why you’ll be placed in out orphanage until you turn sixteen. And no one can give you permission to fight until then. Sorry.”

Luna felt like her whole world was falling apart. There was nothing she could do. Trini couldn’t have prepared her for this. Luna tried to conceal her emotions, but failed desperately. She was only a few seconds from bursting into tears when a blonde woman, roughly Keni’s age, walked over to them. She was wearing black like all the other soldiers Luna has seen so far.

“What if I adopted her?” The woman put a hand on Luna’s shoulder.

“Then you could, by law, give her permission to fight in the upcoming war.” Keni wrote something down.

“I’m Tiffany. You’ll stay with me after you finish orientation.” she gave her a little pat on the back and walked away. Keni took a piece of red fabric and wrote something on it before tying it to her left wrist.

She was then led into another room full of chairs. She sat next to the “little Trini” she met on the road. Soon Keni walked in and stood in front of the crowd. He sure gave a lot of speeches.

“Welcome, people. Welcome to Frikru! I am your general. My name is Keni. The first thing I want to tell you is very important so listen up. Just because we call ourselves Frikru doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want here. So if you came expecting that, you can leave right now. We have rules here. We all work hard, and we work together. Our mission is to rebuild humanity as it once was. The difference between us and other clans is we come up with the rules together. We vote so that everyone has a chance to voice their opinion. You will be a part of that, too, when you finish your adjustment. I won’t lie. It will be hard. You’ll need to learn how to read and write which will be a challenge, but I promise you it will be worth it. Then we have to see which things are you good at so that we can find you a job which will help you contribute most to our community. Next, see those ribbons on your wrists? They have your numbers on them. Those numbers are connected with your information here on this paper. We will also get a sketch of you when you are ready to fully join our town. Then those ribbons will come off. Now you have to leave them on so that people around you know you are new. If you need any help or are confused about something you just have to raise your hand with the ribbon and someone will come to assist you. Now, all the children who are here without any family to look after them please go to the left and everyone else follow me to the right.”

After hearing all of this, Luna was quite impressed. They seemed to be well organized and devoted to helping people. She was so glad she won’t have to tell Trini that her dad lied again.

She followed the orphans to the left and ran into the woman from before. Tiffany.

“Since orientation is over, we can walk to my home. You will have to stay there until you are sixteen and then you will be given a home of your own.”

“Sounds great. And… I never got to thank you for taking me in. You won’t regret it I promise.”

“You’re welcome… You never did tell me your name.”

“It’s Lu… Leah.”

They walked for a few minutes through the city which didn’t look all that confusing when someone was shoving you the signs with the street names and the numbers and the arrows.

Tiffany’s house was fairly small amongst the other ones. Inside there were just a few things. Some pieces of furniture looked like they were untouched by time, completely whole and clean, while others were clearly made from pieces of something else.

“Kids, come here!” Tiffany yelled. A few moments after a little girl ran out of what appeared to be the kitchen. She couldn’t have been much older than Lexa and Costia were. Her hair was gingerly red and curly. She was holding a little notepad and a few colorful pencils. There was a thick rope hanging from the upper floor and a young man just used it to come down and jump right in front of Luna. His hair was short, brown and unbelievably tidy. To Leah’s big surprise none of them were wearing black.

“Who is this?” The older boy asked.

“This is Leah. She came from the clans today. I adopted her so she will be staying with us until she comes of age.”

“Hello.” The little girl waved at her.

“These are my children, Leah. My first born - Harry”, she pointed to the boy who smiled and faked a little bow, “He’s sixteen. And my little girl – Susan.”

“I’m almost thirteen.” Susan added.

“You will be staying in her room.”

Susan smiled like it was the happiest day of her life.

“Come, I’ll show you. It’s upstairs.” she took Leah’s hand and started guiding her to their bedroom.

“Give her some time to breathe, sis. So what clan are… Sorry, _were_ you from?”

“Floukru. And all of you?”

“We were born here, Leah. My husband and I were descendants of the people that created Frikru. We have always lived here, our entire families.”

“And your husband?”

“He’s dead. Killed trying to get a child onto a cart. The child made it to here, he didn’t.” After Harry said that they all got a bit sad.

“Maybe going to bed isn’t such a bad idea, Sue. We start your training tomorrow, Leah.” Tiffany said after a short silence.

“For the war?”

“No. I am not sure I will allow you to go yet. I must first see how skilled a fighter you are. So, rest up.”

\-----

That night there was a great storm above Polis. Trini cared very little for it. She was sleeping comfortably in her room. She was exhausted. Indra made sure she remembered her training next time.

As she was lying in complete darkness, she heard a quiet knock on the door. She woke but didn’t open her eyes. She hoped it would just go away if she ignored it. Maybe it was just the wind. It wasn’t. Then the door cracked open and a figure holding a candle peeked in. It was Lexa, of course. Unlike her big sister, she could hear the wind howling outside, the pouring rain and the occasional lightning strike.

“Trini. Trini.” she whispered walking closer to the bed. Trini could hear her, but hoped it was all a dream.

“Are you awake?” Lexa asked pointing the candle towards Trini.

“I am now.” Trini answered but still didn’t open her eyes.

“I can’t sleep alone, Trini. There’s a storm.”

“You’re not alone. You have Costia in your room.”

“It’s not the same thing. Can I please sleep here with you?”

“Get in.” Trini moved over under the covers and let Lexa climb in. They were lying there for a few minutes when there was another knock on the door. Seconds later Costia peeped inside.

“I woke up and you weren’t there, Lexa.”  She whispered.

“Come here.” Trini opened her eyes and helped Costia settle next to her on the bed.

“You know one day this bed will become too small.” Trini said after a short silence. She was already pretty cramped between the two girls who were both almost falling off the bed.

“Stop it, Trini. We won’t be doing this forever.” Lexa switched positions almost falling to the floor.

Then they were quiet for a while. Costia already drifted to sleep and Trini was not far off.

“Can you talk to me until I fall asleep, Trini?” Lexa’s eyes were wide open. She didn’t look tired at all.

“What do you want to talk about?” Trini answered even though she wanted to ignore her and just go back to dreaming.

“Are you worried about Luna?”

“Of course I am. But I can’t let it get to me. A leader must sent people into danger and still be able to think clearly.”

“She’s your best friend. And I like her, too. What if she needs your help right now?”

“Lexa, Luna is very clever and an excellent fighter. She will be fine.” Trini was worrying; she just didn’t want to admit it. And now that Lexa has mentioned it, she was completely awake.

“I would be afraid if it was Costia out here…”

“Let’s just talk about something else. What did you two do today after training?” Trini was desperate to change the subject.

“We took Ontari into the forest and showed her all of our favorite places. She didn’t want to climb trees so we brought some fruit down for her. And then we played catch barefoot in the grass. She loved it.”

“Sounds like you had fun. She didn’t try to pick a fight with you?”

“No. She was fun. Almost nice. She isn’t so bad. It’s only when she is with the Queen.”

“You think she would be able to keep a secret from her?”

“Definitely not. Not now. But… I thought maybe when she is older and we are old friends she could help us out if we needed her.”

“That is smart of you Lexa.”

“For now we’re just having fun.”

“And it’s all because of you. I’m proud of you for helping her. That took a big heart.”

Lexa smiled and moved closer to her sister. Trini gave her a kiss on the forehead. They talked some more until Lexa finally stopped responding.

\-----

It was morning. The weather was sunny again. Everything was quiet in Trini’s room since all three of the girls were sleeping still.

Then the door slammed open.

“Wake up! Oh, come on! Trini! Lexa!” Anya screamed. Trini jerked violently, knocking Costia off the bed. Lexa took the pillow and covered her head. She was not getting up.

“What is it?” Trini asked, climbing out and trying to take the pillow away from her sister.

“Indra. I overheard her saying she is on her way here for you. I didn’t want her to catch you sleeping in.”

“Thank you”, Trini turned to Lexa, “If she catches you two here she’ll tell mother. And you know she forbade you from sleeping in my room. You two need to get dressed.”

Lexa obeyed her sister and started walking towards the door. She was stopped by Anya.

“You didn’t understand me. She is right outside the door talking to someone. If you walk out she’ll see you.” Anya said.

“Take something from my closet. Come on, quick!” Trini looked for something on her desk and then finally found it. It was a small map. Lexa and Costia each found something close to their size in Trini’s closet and started dressing as quickly as they could.

“Good that you’re here. I wanted to run an idea by you”, Trini unrolled the map in front of Anya, “I was thinking about a way to defeat Nia. And I think I have one. We unite all the remaining clans under the Commander’s rule.”

“Nia will never go for that.”

“That is why it is such a good plan. She doesn’t have to. We tell the other clans if they join, we will protect them from Frikru if they protect the capital from Nia.”

“That might actually work. If the other three clans agree, we have her!” Anya smiled. She had a really warm smile that Trini has never seen before.

“She might be so desperate, she’ll join herself.”

At that moment Indra walked into the room. Trini took the map behind her back and crumpled it in her hand. Lexa stopped helping Costia put on her shirt and pushed her behind a sofa.

“What is going on here? Anya?” Indra was getting more and more suspicious about always finding so many people in her room.

“Well, I am here for Lexa and Costia.” She mumbled.

“And why are they here?”

“They were looking for me.”

Anya sure was bad at improvised lying.

“Why would they be looking for you here?” Indra asked a valid question and Anya had no answer to it. Then Trini started laughing all of a sudden.

“Looking for me! That is funny… No, they are here looking for Lexa’s sword.” Trini said like she believed it.

“Then why aren’t you looking?” Indra was still suspicious. They were all smiling stupidly and standing a bit too steady…

“We are.” Trini gave Lexa and Costia a meaningful look and they started flipping pillows and looking under tables.

“We should leave them to it then, Trini.” Indra opened the door to leave.

“Just one thing first.” Trini jumped and hugged Anya. She was really confused. And so was everyone else in that room.

“I know this is hard, but you will find that sword. We will get through this.” Trini said during the hug to mask the fact that she was slipping the map into her back pocket. The map had their strategy drawn on it. She had no other choice.

\-----

Luna looked at her reflection in a glass window. She was wearing the black uniform again. It made her look so different. And then there was her hair. This morning Tiffany showed her how they wash it here. And then she brushed it for her and made a single braid out of it. She was actually quite nice. Tiffy, that’s how she wanted to be called. Like this Luna looked more like Leah.

“There you are.” Tiffy approached her carrying a heavy bag that seemed to be full of weapons.

“I am.”

“Are you ready for some training? Just inside the building.”

“I wanted to ask you something first. Why are these black uniforms mandatory?”

“Everyone has them, but they are only mandatory for soldiers and people who are training. It is a part of our tradition. But that is not the only reason. The black paint is made out of a whole variety of herbs that have a healing effect. You see, when one of our soldiers gets cut or shot he only has to press his clothes on the wound. The paint lowers the chance of an infection, stops the bleeding quicker and helps with the pain.”

They entered together and found one big room with a whole lot of windows filled with people training. They were throwing knives in one corner, shooting guns in another, fighting in the middle… It was huge.

As soon as they walked in a group of people around Leah’s age approached them. Leah has never seen them before, but Tiffy greeted them as they were friends.

“Who are they?” Leah asked.

“They are my class. You’ll join them.” Tiffy thought she explained herself but Leah’s face looked more confused than ever.

 “I thought you are going to train me.”

“I am. And all of them.”

Leah wasn’t getting it and Tiffy was slowly picking up on that. She sent the other children to run a few laps around the building so she would be alone with her.

“You see, Leah, we teach children differently here. I am a teacher. A combat teacher. That means that every day at a specific time a group of kids, or adults of approximately same skills come to me and I train them.”

“At the same time?”

“Yes. Everyone is a part of a group we call a class, and they always train together. You will be a part of that class. And when you are done with combat training, you’ll go to a different teacher to learn something else.”

“I won’t be with you anymore?”

“You won’t because I have to teach other classes, but I’ll show you where you need to go. I think today you also have to do the L-class and History.”

“The L-class?” Leah was a bit freaked out. She was just getting comfortable around this woman and she was going to abandon her.

“Literacy class. There you learn how to read and write. It’s the hardest one for new initiates.”

“Right. Well, I’ll try my best.” Leah smiled. _Remember why you’re doing this. For Trini. So don’t get scared now._

“So what is your weapon of choice?” Tiffy opened the bag she was carrying. Inside there were swords, bows, crossbows, knives, spears and guns of all sorts. Leah admired it for a second.

“A bow. Definitely. But I am not bad with a sword.”

“Let’s see those shooting skills then.” Tiffy handed her a bow and pointed to a few targets on a wall near them. Leah took her shooting stance and pulled back the arrow. It felt more powerful than any bow she ever held before. In one swift motion she turned away from her target and let go of the string. The arrow flew through the full room almost missing a number of people until it finally hit a target on the other side that was used for knife-throwing. Everyone turned around to look at her and Tiffy.

“Sorry, everyone. She’s new here. Won’t happen again.” Tiffy said awkwardly. Then everybody returned to what they were doing.

“What are you doing?” Tiffy whispered to Leah.

“I hit it. Did you see?”

“Yes. I also saw how you endangered everyone else. You could have hit someone. Killed someone.”

“I knew I could hit it.”

“This is not believing in yourself. This is being reckless. You need to learn to be a team player.”

Leah did everything in her power not to roll her eyes. She was here because she was a team player.

Tiffy took her outside to meet the rest of her class. This was the time to prove herself. During the next hour she dueled with most of them while Tiffy was carefully watching. At the end she fought with Tiffy herself, and even thought Leah lost, she got the permission to go to war with them.

Next up was the famous L-class. This time she had a new class and they were all between the ages of five and seven. Leah was embarrassed that a six-year-old had to show her where to sit and how to use the pen and paper they were given. The teacher was a pleasant-looking middle-aged woman with a flower in her hair. She said her name was Melinda. She talked about the importance of language and literacy, and about her love for reading. About the opportunities books provide. Then she showed them how to write her name and also Leah’s since she was new. As for the students, today they were just writing out random letters to get comfortable with the feeling. Leah was actually not that bad.

Then history… Talb told her a lot about the history of the clans and the Commander’s spirit, but with all this happening she couldn’t help but wonder if he told her everything; if he knew everything. The History teacher was none other than the General himself. Keni brought a giant map with him and then started telling the story of Frikru from the start. Everything. Every person’s name, every detail of their plan and every other student was writing it down. Leah couldn’t even remember how to write down her own name. Luckily for her, Susan was in this class with her so she promised to let her borrow her notes.

\-----

Meanwhile, back at Polis, Trini was explaining to the other members of their downstairs council what Luna was doing. And why.

“Anyway, I am here to propose something else. Unity. We all know the Queen plans to take advantage of the war against Frikru. Well, the only way to defeat her is to unite the clans. If we can persuade the remaining three clans to bow down before the Commander, they can protect the capital, while others face Frikru on the battlefield.”

“Not bad. Did your mother agree to this?” Roan asked.

“I haven’t yet asked her. But I’ll get it done. What is most important is that the four of you convince your masters to go with the proposal.” Trini looked at Roan and the seconds of the separated clans.

“I don’t think my master will listen to my opinion. He never does.” One of the seconds spoke up.

“That is why you don’t confront him. You don’t ask, you don’t order. You make him think it was his idea. Ask him why your clan isn’t in the coalition. Let him talk, explain. And keep pushing him in the right direction. That is the only way you can help. I count on you.” Trini finished.

“You even want me to talk to my mother?” Roan wasn’t sure his mother would be so easily persuaded.

“Try it. Maybe when she sees she has no advantage anymore, she’ll join, too.” Trini smiled.

“I want to talk about something else”, Anya spoke up, “Indra almost exposed us at least twice till now. You need to take care of it. She’s a risk.”

“Skaifaya, why don’t you let our Strikkheda do her job? She has it all under control.” Roan took Anya’s hand.

“No, no. She’s right. I should take care of it. And I will after we unite. I have a plan.” This time Trini actually had one. But she didn’t like it.

\-----

Roan entered his mother’s quarters. She was practicing with a spear, but immediately stopped as soon as she saw him.

“Have you seen Ontari, son?” she asked.

“No. Sorry. I thought she was always by your side.”

“Well, I can’t find her. Never mind. What?”

“I wanted you to brief me about the war. What is the plan?”

“Since when do you care about politics? You always run away when I ask you to advise me. Some King you’ll be…”

“Well, maybe I’m growing up. What are you planning?”

“Simple, son. Take the capital, make Ontari the Commander.”

“Aren’t you afraid of Frikru?”

“Those deluded bastards are too far from us anyway. Takoma is only taking them seriously because she is in love with their leader. He is her biggest weakness. Except those two brats that run around these halls. Not for long.”

“But if the coalition is divided, Frikru won’t be stopped. They will become everyone’s problem soon enough. Why don’t you just stick with Takoma until they are gone? Then you make your move.”

“Because she won’t accept me as an equal. She will want me to bow down for her. And I will never. Not for her or for her daughter.”

“But you will for Ontari?”

“Ontari knows who’s in charge. If she’s on that Throne, it’s like I am.”

“I’m just trying to see why bowing down and joining her would be such a bad thing. You could destroy her from the inside.”

“Where is this coming from? You always said Azgeda should keep to themselves. Who put you up to it?” Suddenly their casual talk turned into something more.

“Mother, what are you talking about?”

“It’s Trini, isn’t it? She’s trying to protect her dear mother.”

“Why in the world would I listen to her?”

“She’s the girl. The Trikru girl you’ve been meeting. I didn’t say anything because you’re young and have a right to make a few mistakes. But Trini? This is serious.”

Roan had a choice to make. He could have corrected her. But that would mean putting Anya in danger. And he couldn’t do that. Trini was maybe the only girl his mother would never dare to hurt.

“I love her, mother. And she’s right about joining the coalition.”

“She will always be on her mother’s side! As you should be on mine.”

“I’m sorry.”

Roan walked out. Now he just had to tell Trini his mother thinks they are madly in love and conspiring together. Great.

\-----

“So what is the plan for the meeting tomorrow? You said you wanted my contribution in this war.” Trini caught her mother’s fist inches before her face.

“There is no plan. I want to see which clans are participating and how many men I can count on.” Takoma striked again with her other hand.

“How many do you think will follow you into the battle?” Trini ducked to avoid the attack.

Takoma grabbed hold of her and threw her to the ground on her side, “Hard to say. A lot of them are scared. They won’t admit it, but they are. Scared of facing Frikru, scared of Nia’s disapproval.”

“So, give them what they want. Security.” Trini jumped up off the floor.

“What do you mean?” Takoma made one of her signature jump-kicks, but missed.

“I mean let them join the coalition, but promise them only protection without the responsibilities.” Trini missed a kick and a punch.

“Why would I do that?” Takoma tackled both of them to the ground.

Trini landed on top of her mother and gave a few light punches, “Because you need their armies guarding Polis. Guarding the capital from Nia. Nia has a Nightblood. She will attempt something I’m sure of it.”

Takoma pushed her daughter aside and rose up.

“That is not a bad idea. You thought of this?”

“Yes.” Trini got up, too.

“Nia is eager to take the Throne away from me. That much is clear.”

“And you are leaving to fight with most of your forces. It’s a perfect opportunity. Offer the three clans the deal. They’ll take it.”

“I will. Thank you, Trini. You really are becoming a smart and capable young woman. You have amazing ideas. You can clearly beat me in combat. I am so proud.”

“Thank you, Heda.” Trini was surprised. She didn’t know how to respond. Her mother didn’t compliment anyone.

“I think you will make a fine Commander one day. Maybe the best one we ever had… I am just sorry I won’t be there to see it.”

“Thank you, mum.”

“Thank you for staying loyal despite certain circumstances.”

She was prizing her for her loyalty while Trini was working behind her back, planning to run away to her dad. At that moment Trini was so moved she wanted to confess everything right there. Since her dad left she didn’t have many nice moments with her mother. Just a lot of arguments and pain. What she was doing was too important to expose now, but Trini felt her emotions bobbling to the surface. She felt a tear coming. Since Takoma wasn’t a fond of displays of emotions Trini bowed and exited swiftly.

\-----

“What is she doing in there for so long?” Roan nervously tapped his foot.

“Calm down, Natshana. She’ll come when she comes.” Anya took his hand.

“What help is that?”

“We wouldn’t even have to talk to her if you didn’t tell your mother you two were in love.”

“I didn’t tell her. I just didn’t correct her.”

“Why didn’t you? She knows you have a weakness and she will take care of it. Might as well kill the right person.”

“I will never let that happen,” Roan’s face was only inches from Anya’s, “You hear me? I would kill anyone, I would burn cities to the ground; I would do unspeakable things for you.”

“What if I don’t want you to?”

“I’m sorry. I love you and I can’t just stand by and let bad things happen to you.” That was the first time Roan told anyone that. He hoped she didn’t hear it.

“You love me?” She definitely heard it.

Grounders didn’t go around telling that to everyone. Especially Azgeda. Admitting you love someone is like saying you have a weak spot.

“I love you. And I don’t want you to die because I love you.”

Anya thought she could gather up the courage to say it back, but the words just weren’t coming to her. At that moment Trini walked up to them.

“The Commander is on board. Nia?” She turned to Roan ignoring the fact they were standing so close to each other their lips were almost touching.

“She declined.” Roan stepped away from Anya.

“As we expected.”

“And there is something else. She knows everything. At least she thinks she does.”

“What?”

“She suspected the proposal was coming from you and that you and I are sleeping together. And I didn’t correct her.”

“How did she know? Were you subtle?”

“I tried.”

“Never mind. We don’t need her anyway. As for the sleeping together - good thinking. She would never dare attack me. I’m a Natblida, the Commander’s second and daughter, one of the most recognizable faces in the clans. Anya on the other hand… She’d send one or two of her assassins and… Gone!”

“Thank you, Trini. I don’t know what to…” Anya started, but Trini gave them a hand gesture and walked off. She had work to do.

\-----

Lincoln stood alone in the desert. It was the middle of the night so the only thing he could see were a few stars and his own horse. Then he heard a rider in the distance. Luckily for him it was Luna. As they agreed. She dismounted a black Frikru horse and stepped to hug Lincoln when he stepped back.

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me? I know we don’t know each other as long as you and Trini do, but I think I at least deserved to know I might never see you again.” He yelled.

“Well, I’m right here. And I wanted to tell you, Linc, but you would have tried to stop me. And I had to do this. Not just for Trini. For all of us. For our future.” She put a hand on his chest and looked deep into his eyes.

“I don’t have a lot of time so start with the information.”

“Lincoln, I said I’m sorry.”

“And I accept it. Just give me some time.”

“This is such an amazing place. You wouldn’t believe how nice these people are…”

So she told him all about her first day at Frikru. About their position, defenses, but also about Tiffy and her family, about the classes and Keni. They both had to go their separate ways after. Luna returned to Susan’s room before anyone realized she was gone, and Lincoln went to Polis to tell Trini Luna is alive, well and gathering information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important plot developments:  
> \- Luna goes “undercover” to Frikru  
> \- She gets a warm welcome and stays with a woman named Tiffany  
> \- Trini plans to unite the remaining clans with the coalition  
> \- Nia thinks Trini is the mystery girl Roan’s been seeing  
> \- Lincoln meets Luna to get the information she gathered to Trini  
> Hope you’re enjoying the story…  
> And tell me is these summaries are helping anyone or I should just stop…


	6. Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am with another chapter… Just so you’re all caught up I’m mostly referring to Luna as Leah now. Since she chose that name for herself in Frikru. But Trini for example still calls her Luna. I hope it’s not confusing.  
> I know my story is out there…

“… they let her sleep in the same room with one of the children. They are that trustworthy. That’s part of the reason she managed to sneak out. They just leave their horses chained up outside at everyone’s disposal. It’s insane. She figured out the wall security on the side facing us is quite extensive, but not on the opposite side. She slipped through there.” Lincoln walked after Trini and gave her the short version of what he heard from Luna the previous night.

“I’m just glad she managed to prove herself a valuable warrior. If she hadn’t, they would never share any strategy with us.” Trini was on her way to a real council meeting for a change.

“I’m just glad your dad was telling the truth and she wasn’t hurt. So, worried about the meeting?”

“According to the seconds every leader agreed besides Nia. So, it should be a bit troubling.”

“Well, good luck in there.”

They arrived at the door to the Throne room. Roan was already standing there, probably pretending to support his mother who was inside. Lincoln stayed behind, too. This was unfortunately something Trini had to do alone. She stepped into the room and felt like all eyes were on her.

“What is this, Takoma? We agreed not to have seconds at meetings until the end of the war.” Nia immediately started complaining.

“Trini is no ordinary second. She is number one Natblida and I asked her to attend today.”

After Takoma’s statement the leaders started whispering amongst themselves. Then Takoma slammed her fists on the table and stood up.

“I am your Commander! I will not be questioned! I will not be disobeyed!”

Everyone went quiet. Then Takoma suggested Trini’s proposal, but pretended it was her own idea. Nia was carefully observing Trini the entire time. It seemed like she still didn’t approve of her _relationship_ with Roan. The leaders of Louwoda Kliron, Boudalankru and Delfikru agreed to swear allegiance to the Commander immediately. The other clans in the coalition agreed to let them join. Then everyone turned to Queen Nia. Everyone waited for her answer.

“I would rather kill every man, woman and child in my clan with my own bare hands than let their faith be decided by you. I would burn down every village before I’d see you command them. I would rather watch my only son be torn apart by wolves then watch him bow down for you. Azgeda will never be yours!” Nia spoke with so much hate and anger. When she was finished she stood up, spit on the table and walked out of the room.

She ordered Roan to come back to Azgeda with her. He started following her, as did her guards. Trini stormed out of the room next. She knew where Nia was going, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Just outside the tower Lexa and Costia were teaching the Azgeda girl how they play in Trikru. They were hiding in the bushes, making noises, while Ontari was blindfolded, trying to find them. All three girls were laughing and squeaking loudly.

Ontari couldn’t see anything, but could hear she was getting closer to Lexa since her voice was getting louder, and then she suddenly couldn’t hear her anymore. Nor Costia. The girls went quiet after seeing a furious Nia run from the gate to where they were playing.

“Ontari!” the Queen screamed and the little girl turned to face her.

“Games? What did I tell you about games? You are a disgrace to the blood!” Nia tore the blindfold off her face. Ontari’s smile vanished. Now Nia could clearly see that Ontari was wearing Trikru war paint.

“As if this isn’t embarrassing enough, you wear their colors!” Nia slapped the little girl as hard as she could. Ontari let out a little muffled scream and started sobbing without making a sound.

“You’re as weak as they are! You have clearly gone off your path and I will bring you back on it. Because now you are an embarrassment to me and to your clan!” Nia took her hand and started pulling it. Trini couldn’t just stand by and watch this. She stepped up and separated them. Ontari hid behind her back, still crying.

“Move away, Natblida. This is between me and my second. This is not your fight.” Nia said.

“She too is a guest of the Commander and is under her protection. You can do whatever you want in you clan, but here this is unacceptable.” Trini looked right into Nia’s eyes. She wasn’t about to let up.

“She is my second. I can treat her as I please. And she must come with me.”

“She must do nothing. She can stay or she can go, but it’s her choice.”

“Ask her then.”

“I will,” Trini turned to Ontari and smiled, “Ontari, do you wish to go with your master or stay here in the capital?”

“I want to stay.” Ontari whispered.

“You ungrateful little bitch! I made you who you are! I should have let you rot on that farm with your idiot parents!” Nia looked like she was about to attack.

“She said she’s staying. And there is nothing you can do about it.” Trini took Ontari’s hand.

“You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” Nia raised her hand to strike Trini.

“Get away from her! Or there will be consequences. We protect our seconds here.” Indra was listening to the whole thing and decided to weigh in.

“Mother, we better go.” Roan pulled his mother’s hand.

“This is not over!” Nia turned around and walked away, followed by her son and guards.

\-----

There was a knock on Keni’s office door.

“Enter!” He yelled.

“I brought you the new member Leah, since she has a question.” Tiffy opened the door.

“And you couldn’t answer it?”

“I could, I just didn’t know if I should,” she turned to Leah, “Go ahead. Tell him.”

Leah stepped towards the middle of the room, “I know I said I want to help you defeat the Mountain, and I do. But first I want to hear your plan. I don’t want to endanger my life if we don’t have a chance.”

“I think she deserves to know. How about you, Right Hand?” Keni turned to Tiffy.

“I trust her. We should tell her.”

“So, here it goes. We were never able to defeat the Mountain Men because of the acid fog and the Reapers. Are plan is to send a man who is very familiar with the Reaper tunnels to hide out in them. Then take a small group to the gates to start the fog. We have about twenty protective suits they can all put on when the fog starts. The man in the tunnels will get the Reapers to chaise him and lead them out of the tunnels so the fog kills them. Then the group is free to enter the Mountain through the tunnels.” Keni finished his monologue.

Leah liked what she heard. It was not a bad plan. It did depend on just twenty people, but it really sounded like it was going to work.

“So you see, the only reason we need an army is to fight off the Commander.” Tiffy explained.

Leah took a deep breath and looked aside. She was going to have to tell Trini about the plan. And she didn’t like the idea of fighting against her lifelong friends from the clans. And Trini surely won’t like fighting against her own mother.

“I know it’s painful, Leah, but you’re one of us now.” Tiffy put a hand on Leah’s shoulder.

\-----

Trini was training. She was focusing on her defense today so she was just dodging while Indra attacked however she wanted. Trini was usually flawless at this exercise, but today she was taking one hit after another. First she got kicked into her knee, then an elbow to the chest and finally across the face.

“That was an embarrassment, Trini! We both know you can do so much better.” Indra grabbed hold of Trini’s chin to check for injuries.

“I am sorry, master. I will try harder.” Trini just couldn’t help it. With Luna gone and the war approaching her mind couldn’t focus on anything else.

“You need to be dedicated to this. There can’t be anything more important to you than your training.”

“I understand, master.”

“Is there something else stealing your attention? You can talk to me.” Indra always wanted her second and her to bond more. Talk about the world. But Trini did that with her other master. And Indra could never compete with Trini’s mother.

“There isn’t.”

“You apologized. You didn’t answer back rudely. You’re being respectful. I know there is something wrong. Is it because of your father’s return?”

“How do you know about that? It is supposed to stay between the leaders of the clans.”

“I fought alongside your father. I know him when I see him. And I saw him with Frikru. Leading Frikru.”

“He might not be dead, but he is dead to me.” Trini tried to seem like she really hated him.

“I also didn’t know all these years. But the Commander was right to keep it a secret. I hope you are not holding a grudge.”

“I am not. I am fine.”

“Are you sure there is nothing else going on with you, Trini?”

“I am. I’m just tired.” Trini really wanted to tell her the truth. She wanted to ask for advice, guidance. It was clear Indra knew something was off and that she was not going to stop until she found out what it was. Trini had to get rid of her, fast.

\-----

Leah was on her way to see a surprise. Harry and Susan promised to show her something amazing. They led her to the center of the town. There was a giant building there with glass walls. Leah’s seen it before, she just didn’t go in. As soon as they got closer she realized that it’s green color was coming from the plants growing inside. There were also some giant letters at the entrance.

“B-I-…” Leah tried to read them.

“Bios” Susan helped.

“It’s supposed to say Biosphere. That was the name of the green house.” Harry explained.

“What is a green house?” Leah doubted they just meant a house colored in green.

“This building was built so that all kinds of different plants could grow inside without being influenced by the outside world. That is why the plants survived the radiation. Most of them. It was also very lucky.” Harry led them in.

Inside there were so many different kinds of trees, bushes and fruit. Leah almost couldn’t believe it. Everything was green from the floor to the ceiling. There were also quite a lot of people, most of which sat at a giant table inside.

“When Frikru moved here they helped the plants grow even stronger and now we have all this food in the middle of the desert. Isn’t it amazing?” Susan said.

Leah couldn’t stop looking around. There was music. Some people sat on the floor in the corner, surrounded by some old cans, buckets and sticks and they were playing an extremely catchy rhythm. To Leah it was just garbage, but to them it was drums, flutes and rattles.

“It’s the music, right? All the new people love it.” Harry smiled.

“This is not just a place to grow food. A lot of people come here every night to eat dinner. They can eat at home, but it’s so much more fun here. You can spend time with friends, there’s always music, sometimes acting. And of course dancing.” Susan was going on and on about how great this was.

“Let’s sit.” Harry found them three seats at the table.

They tried some fresh vegetables. Harry and Susan enjoyed them, but what they enjoyed more was the look on Leah’s face. She’s never tasted anything like that before. In Floukru they mostly ate fish and other marine animals. And here there were so many different things to try.

Just as she was sucking down a soup made out of at least five different kinds of vegetables, Tiffy sneaked up on them.

“Enjoying ourselves, kids?” she asked, leaning on the table.

“This is simply brilliant.” Leah’s mouth was still full.

“I’m glad you like it. I just finished my last class today.” Tiffy was still wearing her black uniform shirt from work, but she paired it off with a very colorful long skirt for this occasion. She was also barefoot, like a lot of people chose to be in the Bios.

“Care for a dance?” Keni walked over from nowhere and put out his hand.

“Let’s go.” Tiffy took it and they were on the dance floor in no time. They were both laughing while he spoon her around, causing her skirt to fly in a circle.

“Is there something between the two of them?” Leah asked back at the table.

“Mom and Keni?” Harry smirked.

“They are friends. The dancing doesn’t have to be romantic. Harry dances with me all the time.” Susan smiled too.

“And she’s his second in command. It wouldn’t be right.” Harry didn’t like the idea of his mother with someone besides his dad.

“I just think, they look very close.” Leah said looking at Keni, who raised Tiffy off the ground holding her by her hips.

“Keni would never. He has a family. Back in Polis. Kids of his own, a wife he loves. He’d never.” Harry looked less and less interested in this conversation.

Leah tried to look like all of this was new information to her.

“He does come over for dinner a lot. Maybe they do like each other that way.” Susan was beginning to like the idea.

“They are friends. End of story.” Harry said, irritated.

Leah looked at them again. She saw how Tiffy looked at Keni, how she smiled. It seemed like more than a friendship.

In a few minutes they went dancing too. Harry showed Leah some moves and she was having fun in no time. She had no problem fitting in. She just wished Lincoln was here. It was decided. She wanted all of her friends to come and live here. She was going to pass the message to Trini.

\-----

Trini was on a mission of trying to keep her mother from going to confront Frikru in the desert.

“Mother, it’s like facing the Mountain Men in the open. It will end in a slaughter.” Trini sat at the big table with her mother and sister.

“The numbers are on our side, Trini. I have been doing this since before you were born.” Takoma was stubborn, that was for sure.

“Did you count in their bullets? Because then the numbers are not so kind. In the open they will crush us.”

“So where do you suggest we confront them?”

“We need to pick a good place for an ambush and come on strong to drive them away.”

Takoma rolled her eyes. If it was any other time she would not be taking advice from children, but she promised them they will be included. And Trini’s ideas were proven to be effective.

“How about we use this canyon? We can wait for them there.” Lexa pointed at a place on a map. Both women looked over to her.

“That’s perfect, Lexi. They’ll come from the northwest so they’ll have to pass through it.” Trini was actually impressed.

“How do you know where they will attack from?” Takoma just asked the question Trini was dreading for a while. In the last few days she has gotten so much valuable information from Luna, but she had to be careful in sharing it with Heda.

“That is what the people are saying. The elders who have lived through a lot of Frikru attacks.” Trini tried to make up an explanation.

“I see. I admire your skills with the people. They will serve you well when you are Heda.”

“Now, for the canyon, I was thinking of setting a fire on our side so they can’t come through. It will scare them and probably make them give up.” Trini suggested.

“I like it. They can shoot at the fire for as long as they want. It won’t help.” Lexa added.

“No. We will fight them. I think a couple hundred archers at the top will level the playing field.” Takoma really wanted to show off her strength.

“How about we leave a small army waiting for them at the end and lead everyone else to attack them from behind. They’ll be surrounded.” Costia was standing near the table quietly until now.

“Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak to us while we are planning! You are lucky you are even here.” Takoma rudely cut Costia off.

“I am Costia kom Trikru. I am a decent fighter and negotiator. I have been a part of this family for years and I demand to be treated with more respect!”

After Costia said that everyone was quiet. In her life Costia has barely looked Takoma in the eye, let alone talked to her. And this, this could get her in trouble. Trini was already trying to come up with an excuse when Takoma spoke up.

“Fine. Your plan is not bad. It will be taken into consideration.”

When Heda said that, all three of the girls breathed a little easier.

“But if you ever speak to me like that again you will be out of our home for good.” Takoma added.

After another half hour discussing ideas they finally settled on Costia’s. It’s not like it mattered anyway. Trini was planning on telling the General to avoid the canyon.

Now it was just Takoma and Trini in the room.

“Mother? I want to talk to you about Indra.”

“Not this again. I told you the only way you can…”

“I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“Become someone’s master. I’m ready.”

“Excellent. I will organize a tournament for all the Nightbloods as soon as possible.”

“What? That was not how I was chosen.”

“Indra was not a Nightblood. You are one of the rare ones who lived to become a master. Your second must be a Natblida, too.” Takoma spoke the truth. Most Nightbloods died or became Heda before reaching her age.

“Very well.”

\-----

Trini couldn’t wait for another update from Luna. Firstly she wanted to know her best friend was unharmed, but she also saw this as her only connection to her dad. She was beginning to understand why he left everything to join Frikru. They sounded like the perfect society.

There was sadly nothing she could do to help the situation now. Her plan was in motion. Every part of it. She hated situations like this. When all you can do is wait. She wanted to find Lincoln and go over the questions for Luna one more time, but instead she came across Anya, who was standing in front of her room. Trini immediately noticed the tears dripping down her cheeks. She was trying to hide them, to stop them, but couldn’t. She was crying because of Roan, there was no doubt about it. Trini knew she was supposed to cheer her up, but didn’t know how. She was also feeling horrible and couldn’t think of one positive thing to tell her.

“Do you know where Costia and Lexa are?” Trini asked her, pretending she didn’t see the tears.

“Inside. With Ontari.” Anya wiped her face.

“Invite all three of them out. I need all of you to accompany me somewhere.”

Anya obeyed and got the girls. Trini took them on a walk through the woods that finished at the waterfall they held meetings under. They entire time they were walking she refused to tell them where they were going. When Trini stopped on the top of the waterfall they were all confused.

“I brought you here because we all need to have some fun”, she took her sword and her knife and put them on the ground, “Lately we were all working hard and lying a lot. Also some of our friends are far away and we all worry about them. We all need this.”

After saying that, she turned around, ran to the edge and jumped. Seconds after, she appeared on the surface.

“Come on! You next.” she yelled.

Lexa has done this with her sister before so she stepped to the edge first. Costia joined her. They held hands and jumped while Trini cheered. As soon as they surfaced Trini splashed them. They splashed back, giggling. Anya smiled for the first time since Roan left for Azgeda. She still couldn’t get him of her mind, but she could still have a little fun.

The girls called for Anya to jump. She breathed in deeply and took the leap. The water was cold, but refreshing. Now she couldn’t stop smiling.

Ontari was still left standing on the top looking down at them having fun. Trini knew how afraid she was of heights so she got out of the water and climbed up there to help her.

“Know how to swim?”

The little girl nodded.

“All right. Then you have nothing to worry about. Just get a running start and do it.”

“But I’m afraid.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. So am I. Of so many things. But I’ve never let it stop me. Don’t block it out. Let it in. And then confront it head on. Like an opponent.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“No one will make you do it. Your fear is your thing. And you will face it when you are ready. Are you ready?”

Ontari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She remembered all the times Nia used her fear against her. She looked at the edge and started running as fast as she could. And she did it. She really did. Looking up at that waterfall was the proudest she’s felt in her entire life. And that wasn’t the best part. They were cheering. All of them. Trini, Anya, Lexa and Costia. They were all happy for her.

Trini managed to cheer everyone up. They were swimming, splashing, diving, laughing, jumping… It was a miracle given the tense situation they were in for the last few days.

Lexa and Ontari had a breath holding competition which Lexa won, but for the first time Ontari didn’t care. She was too happy. Lexa was a good swimmer, but suddenly felt like she was being dragged down. She screamed and went under water. Ontari was quite close, but still couldn’t make out what was happening from the surface. While Trini was making her way from the other side, Ontari has already dived in after Lexa. She managed to grab hold of her hand and was dragging her out. Lexa was kicking and squirming since there was something rapped around her leg, not letting her surface. She finally managed to kick it off and Ontari dragged her out. Trini dove in after and brought out a considerably large snake. With Anya’s help, she got rid of it.

Ontari was celebrated like a hero. Everyone thanked her and called out her name. She wasn’t used to this. It was not in Nia’s nature to give praises, even when they were earned. And she was the only family Ontari knew. Often she thought about how it would be like to be a part of a real family. She thought about it like it was some unachievable fantasy. But there she was now. She felt like she finally was accepted here. Maybe this was supposed to be her home all along.

After spending the whole day at the rived they returned home wet, muddy, but happy. They immediately went to Trini’s room to change and warm up, but were surprised to find Roan there waiting for them. Anya ran to hug him as soon as she recognized him.

“I love you.” she whispered so that no one except Roan could hear it. He didn’t answer her. She already knew he felt the same. He just held her tighter.

“I’m fine. I promise. But no one else can see me”, he was so happy to feel Anya in his arms again, “I have a message for Strikheda. My mother wants to meet with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s new:  
> \- All the clans agreed to join the coalition except Azgeda (and Frikru)  
> \- Trini stands up for Ontari and she gets to stay in the capital, while Nia and Roan leave  
> \- Trini agrees to choose a second  
> \- Leah/Luna hears the Frikru plan and decides she wants everyone to relocate to Frikru  
> \- Takoma, Trini and Lexa make plans for the battle  
> \- Roan comes back and says Nia wants a meeting with Trini  
> This story is deeply full of OCs… And I know you all know what happens to everyone in the end because you watch the show, but I hope you are still having fun reading about what “was” before… It’s the journey that matters.


	7. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I want to invite everyone who read even a fraction of this story to share their opinion in the comments. It would mean a lot to me.  
> Secondly, here I am with number seven. I was a bit late, sorry for that.  
> This chapter features another character from the show… Another grounder I couldn’t resist from including. Enjoy. :)

Queen Nia waited at a forest clearing. She knew Trini for many years, as she did most seconds, but Trini was always special. One of the best warriors Trikru has ever had. She started following her mother to war at a very young age and the stories of her skills became very well known.

Since Nia’s son wasn’t blessed with the nightblood, Nia searched her clan for someone who was, and found only Ontari. When her parents refused to give her up to their Queen, Nia killed them right in front of their daughter’s eyes. She raised Ontari from that day forward with only one thing in mind. The Throne. Now, she lost that one chance she had at having a commander loyal to her. But, if there was one thing she was extremely good at, it was adjusting to the situation.

Trini emerged from the tree line, followed by Lincoln and another Nightblood.

“They weren’t part of the deal. I said, just the two of us, unarmed.” Nia said.

“Did you really think I’m that naive? I know how these things go down. How many people did you bring?” Trini stopped walking when she was a couple of feet from the Queen.

Nia grinned and waved her hand, and then around ten heavily armed men stepped from the tree shadows and into the sunlight.

“I know how this looks, but it’s just a percussion. I really just want to talk.”

“If you get any ideas, I also have this,” she drew out her father’s gun, “our best archer somewhere in the trees and your son back at home.”

Fine, the archer thing was a lie, but Trini was playing with the big girls now. She had to come off as intimidating and powerful.

“Then let’s get to it. Now, at least I know who really runs things. Your mother has no clue who arranged the union?”

“No. She is a busy woman and so am I. What do you want?”

“You know, I have been the Queen of Azgeda since I was your age. I managed to go more than thirty years without being overthrown or killed. You know how I did that? I pick the winning side. Every time.”

“Of course. Spoken like a true coward. Turn as the wind changes direction.”

“It is not being a coward, it’s being smart. You cost me my Natblida, and you have my son. If I were stupid, I’d command them to kill you right now, right here. I’d get my revenge. And I’d die from your mother’s hands for it. But, instead, I’ll make you a deal.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“You and I both know Frikru will crush your mother on that battlefield. That is why I will fight with them. And so should you.”

“Are you asking me to join Frikru?”

“I am asking you to join me. Your mother doesn’t appreciate you. She doesn’t even see what you are capable of. I do. Join me and you can have everything you want. You will have my blessing to marry my son. And after Frikru triumphs and your mother is dead, you’ll rule all the clans. Unite them all under your rule. You’ll be the Queen and the Commander. And you will finally get your father back. The father you thought was dead because of her!”

“I would never take that deal! I know better than to trust you.”

“I’ve always wanted what’s best for my clan. And now that is you.”

“You have always wanted what was best for you! And you will never change. I only make deals with people I trust.”

“Then what? You’ll loyally stand by your mother and lose?”

“I will do what is best for the people.”

“You speak like you’re so different from me, but we’re the same.”

“We are not the same!”

“Did Roan ever tell you the story of how I got crowned? My father was the King and I, his eldest child. Pride of Azgeda. But my father never believed that a woman could be a ruler.  So he always promised the Throne to my younger brothers who were all dumb as rocks. But they were men. And that was all he cared about. I started gathering followers. People who supported my claim. Gave them a little order, here and there. That’s how it started. It ended with the whole Azgeda army loyal to me, and only me. But I didn’t stop there. I killed that crazy bastard, but only after I made him watch as I killed my worthless brothers.”

“Nice story. I just don’t see the resemblance.”

“You’ve started on a path. And that path leads straight to the Throne.”

“No. I am not like you! No deal! And Roan stays with me. Where he belongs.” Trini turned around and started walking away to where their horses were. Nia just smirked and stared into the distance.

“You can walk away from me, Strikheda, but you cannot walk away from yourself!” she yelled.

\-----

Trini stood in front of a broken mirror in her room. Nia’s words were still ringing through her mind. At least Roan was safe and with Anya. And Ontari was doing great, now that she wasn’t tortured on a daily basis. Trini had a lot to be proud of. But she was worrying, like she always does.

She hated war paint, but it was necessary in some occasions. It was part of their tradition. Luna usually applied it for her, but she wasn’t here now. Trini was beginning to miss her. Talking to her, laughing together. She remembered how happy they were before all of this Frikru business started.

She got so distracted she put some of the paint in her eye and had to wash it off. She really wasn’t good at this. She started applying black paint again and didn’t notice there was someone in the room.

“I talked to your mother.” Indra spoke after observing Trini for a few seconds.

“Indra… I’m sorry.” Trini turned around.

“Sorry? You ignored years of our tradition. I, the master, am to decide when you are ready to take on a second.”

“Indra, I meant no insult.”

“But insult me, you did. You could have talked to me, but you went behind my back to the Commander. You didn’t even have the decency to tell me yourself.”

“I would have, it’s just…”

“I was your master for fourteen years. I thought I deserved more from you.”

“I really am sorry, Indra.”

Indra walked out of the room without saying a word. Her words really hurt. Trini knew she insulted her, but it was the only way. Indra didn’t deserve this. She thought Trini everything she knows. She was the reason Trini became Main Natblida. At least now, Trini didn’t have to worry about Indra following her. It sounded like Indra never wanted to talk to her ever again.

\-----

There were ten Nightbloods who still didn’t have masters. They were trained by Titus, the Flame Keeper. Since they were all between the ages of two and four, their skills were still undeveloped. They’ve never held real weapons, and probably didn’t have the strength to hold them anyway. Right now they were stick fighting in pairs.

When Trini arrived they all stopped and greeted her with a bow. Trini of course didn’t know what to do, so she bowed too. Titus rolled his eyes and showed her to the chair she was supposed to sit in. When she was seated the little kids were still standing and looking at her. Then she clapped her hands together and they resumed fighting. Later she got up and walked amongst the fighters to judge each one of them. Titus clearly didn’t approve of that, but this wasn’t his ceremony. If Trini was going to do this, she was going to do this her way.

Aden was extremely nervous. He was well past three years old and still no one picked him to be his second. The reason was obvious. He was the scrawniest kid there. Until recently he couldn’t even pull a child bow’s string all the way out. He always lost at fights. When he managed to hit someone it was too weak. Truth be told he didn’t even like hitting other kids.

Now he was in a match with a kid almost twice his size. The brute was hitting him however he wanted and Aden couldn’t do anything about it. He was fast but couldn’t fight back. Right as Trini was passing them Aden was thrown to the ground. He was so embarrassed. There was no way she was going to pick him now.

Trini crouched and whispered into Aden’s ear: “Trip him over your foot. Big guys fall same as little guys.”

Aden nodded and got up. The brute charged again but Aden put out his foot and he tripped and fell. Everyone was amazed. Trini whispered him one little thing and already he managed to win a fight.

Then Trini called them all to gather around her.

“You all fought well. But now you will fight me.” She took a stick for herself and twirled it around.

“Who wants to go first?” she then asked. At first all the Nightbloods were incredibly still and quiet. Then Aden stepped forward.

“I do.” he took his fighting stance, flawed as it was.

“What is your name?”

“Aden.”

“Let’s see how good you are, Aden.” Trini of course went easy on him. She didn’t even move her feet, she used only one hand with the stick and still after three moves, she managed to hit him straight in the chest.

“Next!”

They all got their chance against Trini and they all failed after less than five moves even though Trini attacked the same way every time.

“Was that everyone? Then I shall announce my decision as soon as my mother is present.” she put her stick on the ground.

“Can I go again?” Aden asked causing all the other children to chuckle.

“Sure. Give it a go.” Trini smiled and picked up her weapon one more time. She was prepared to do the same five moves one more time. Only this time when she swung for Aden’s chest he ducked and almost smacked her foot. This time he lasted much longer than anyone else. When he finally lost, Trini smiled at him and returned to her chair. In a few minutes Takoma came to support her daughter.

“Young Nightbloods, for one of you, your journey towards becoming a great warrior begins today. Trini, tell us whom you have chosen to be your second.”

All eyes were on Trini and it was making her nervous.

“Aden.” she decided to keep it short and to the point.

“The rest of you, return to your training, Aden, join your master”, Takoma then turned and whispered to her eldest daughter, “Aden? I would have chosen the big one.”

What neither of them knew was that Indra was standing not far from there, hidden behind a tree. She was really mad at Trini, but she wasn’t going to let her make this important step in her life without her there. She smiled when she chose Aden. She was finally sure she thought her well.

\-----

Trini took Aden to her room because, to be honest, she didn’t really know what to do with him. She was barely three when she became Indra’s second and didn’t really remember how they bonded. As long as she could remember they were training together.

She sat on a chair and expected he would do the same, but he just stood there staring at her.

“You want to sit?” she asked awkwardly.

“I have to do the Second-to-master oath.” he said and then walked over to her chair and kneeled.

“Every master and his second share a special _brond_ , which is based on respect and… And…” he started muttering and looked terrified. Trini would be glad to help him out if she knew the words, but she didn’t remember ever doing this with Indra.

“Aden, listen, you don’t have to do that whole thing… Just use your own words. Tell me what they thought you a second should do.” she gave him a hand signal to stand up.

“I have to listen to what you say, never speak to you unless you called for me, never reveal to others what you told me, follow you at three paces, never be late to a training, always call you master…”

“Well, I’ll tell you what is important to me. First I want you to forget about not speaking to me unless called. I want you to ask me as many questions as possible and always tell me what you’re thinking because I need to know what you’re thinking. Can you do that?”

Aden nodded.

“And you don’t have to call me master when we are not around other masters”, she added, “Just call me Trini. And you don’t have to worry about three paces and such things, because I won’t. Now I’ll show you to your room, since you’ll be staying with me in the tower.”

“Master Trini?”

“Yes, Aden?”

“Why did you pick me?”

“Because you were the fastest learner there. You were the only one who realized I was repeating my moves. The strength will come with age. Skill with practice. You use your head. That cannot be thought.”

“Trini?”

“Yes?”

“I’m happy you chose me.” he hugged her. She felt incredibly good about herself.

Next, she introduced him to Lexa and Costia who were thrilled to have someone else to play with.

“I’m surprised you didn’t take Ontari as your second.” Costia said.

“I thought about it. Mother would never allow it. She’ll get someone else. I hear Indra’s available.” Trini smiled, but inside it hurt a little bit. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of the girls so she made jokes.

“Where is Ontari, anyway?” Trini asked.

“We haven’t seen her in a while. You?” Lexa thought about the last conversation they had.

“No, Lexa. I have no idea where she is. That is trouble… I have to go look for her. You look after Aden.” Trini started walking towards the door.

“We? Look after him? Trini!” Lexa wasn’t happy with the task she was given.

“Think of him as a lizard. You always wanted one of those.” Trini smirked.

“Not funny. What if he starts crying? Trini? Trini!” Lexa yelled, but her sister was gone.

\-----

“Lincoln! Lincoln, wait up!” Trini finally found him patrolling the halls. He was dressed as one of Heda’s bodyguards.

“Trini, I’m working. Can it wait?” he didn’t seem so thrilled to see her. I guess he forgot who helped him get this job.

“Look, I’m happy you found this job. I really am, but Ontari is missing. Costia and Lexa haven’t seen her all day. She wasn’t in her room when they woke up and she’s not there now.”

“So are you worried she might be in trouble, or that she might be causing trouble?”

“At this point I really don’t know.” Trini made the most desperate face expression Lincoln has ever seen. They have been friends for a long time so he could see when something was really important to her and this was.

They started asking around, but so far they’ve had no luck. They checked many of her favorite places here in the capitol, but she was nowhere to be found. Trini didn’t want to even think about something till now, but there was a possibility Ontari decided to return back home. That was hard for Trini to imagine since Ontari really seemed to enjoy living with them.

While they were looking, they saw Trini’s horse Trikova galloping around aimlessly through the town. She had no saddle and was pretty shaken up. They both rode her back to the stables where Trini was planning to give the stable boy a good scolding for losing her horse, but when they got there he was lying on the ground. They ran to help him.

“I am sorry, Main Natblida. It was that little girl. The one with the scars. She had blood all over her face when she came here. She demanded your horse. I told her she needs your permission for that and she said she’ll take another one. I turned around for just a second and… Black!” The young boy barely spoke. His head was bleeding.

“She probably hit you with a rock or something. We need to get you to a healer.” Lincoln helped him stand up.

“Then she tried to saddle Trikova, but Trikova doesn’t like strange people touching her so she ran off. And Ontari took Costia’s horse.” Trini walked away to get some air.

“Why did she want a horse so bad? You don’t think she…” Lincoln went after her.

“She went back to Azgeda. That’s the only explanation. Damn it! I believed her! She was getting better. Why?”

“I guess she wasn’t doing so great since she did this.”

“She knows too much, Lincoln. She listened to us talk about the meetings, about Luna’s mission, about Anya and Roan… We are in big trouble.”

\-----

At that time Ontari was already sitting in her old room waiting to talk to Nia. A part of her feared the Queen would just kill her the moment she stepped into the Ice Nation’s territory. But the solders that picked her up were instructed to keep her safe and bring her to the Queen unharmed.

“Give me one good reason not to kill you right now.” Nia put a dagger on the little girl’s throat.

“You need me. I am a Nightblood.” Ontari said, not a flinch of fear in her eyes.

“I need a loyal Nightblood. You’ve betrayed me.”

“I lied to them. I made them trust me with secrets. And now I’m here to tell you everything.”

“You want to tell me that you have been planning this from the start?”

“Exactly. I know things about their plan; things about them that would amaze you.”

“There is no way Trini trusted you with anything.”

“But she did. Strikheda has a weakness. I was a victim, a helpless little abused girl. She couldn’t stop herself. She had to save me. Help me.”

“So you are still one of us?”

“I did what you thought me. I exploited her weakness.” Ontari traced her finger on her freshly open wounds on her forehead.

“You did that yourself?”

“To remind myself of who I am. I am Ontari kom Azgeda, the future commander.

\-----

Trini was quite upset, but she still found her way up to her room. There she found Lexa, Costia and Aden playing that game with the colorful stones. She was happy to see them getting along. Then she spotted Indra standing in the corner of the room.

“You know the point of having a second is that you actually train with him.” Indra stepped closer to the center of the room.

“And I intend to. I just had urgent business to attend to.” Trini frowned.

“What kind of business?”

“That is no longer your concern.”

“Are you bringing him to the evening tournaments?”

“Maybe I am.”

“I’ll be expecting you. And so will the other masters. We are anxious to see you teach.”

“Indra you are no longer my master and you have no business in my room unless you were invited.”

“Excuse me, Main Natblida.” Indra left.

Trini had to hold back tears. She was horrified that her relationship with Indra has come to this.

She called Aden and asked him to join her at the tournaments, while Lincoln stayed behind to tell Costia and Lexa what Ontari did.

\-----

First they just walked around the pits and looked around. Lincoln loved those fights and couldn’t bear to miss even one day. He joined them eventually. His first fight was against a short, but incredibly muscular village builder. As the two men prepared to fight, Trini turned to Aden.

“I want you to watch them closely. Learning from other people’s mistakes is important.”

“Yes, Trini. But am I going to fight someone today?”

“No. Today I am teaching you to predict the winner of a match. Now, who do you think is going to win here?”

“I don’t know.” Aden watched as they took turns punching each other.

“Well, I think it is going to be Lincoln.” Trini smiled and resumed watching the match. Lincoln did get punched pretty hard a couple of times, but still ended up winning.

“Now, why did I say Lincoln was going to win?” Trini asked her second.

“Because he is your friend?”

“No, Aden,” Trini chuckled, “Can you tell me what did the other guy do wrong? Why did he lose?”

Aden looked at the winner and the loser, but couldn’t think of anything smart to say.

“Look at his face. It’s so red from anger. He is too aggressive in his attacks. People like that look intimidating, but fight too recklessly and often lose.” Trini explained.

Lincoln then chose another opponent. It was a serious looking woman, a warrior. While they were preparing to pounce at each other Trini sat on the ground and instructed Aden to do the same.

“Now, Aden, I want you to carefully watch the fight. And when Lincoln wins, tell me why.” she said. The little boy nodded and diverted all of his attention to the two fighters. This match was much longer, but Lincoln won again.

“She was slow.” Aden said after a short silence.

“That’s right. She missed a lot of opportunities, because she was too slow. If it was a real fight to the death, Lincoln would have slit her through before she even realized what was happening.”

“How can you always tell who’s going to win?”

“Well I just watch both sides and look for weaknesses. It’s also important to know your own weaknesses. When you’re fighting someone, you have to be able to quickly figure out what kind of move will take him down. I hate to disappoint you, but most fights are won in here.” she pointed at his head and he smiled.

Trini however wasn’t in a smiling mood. It was something he said. He asked her how she can always tell who is about to win. It was the exact skill that Nia was bragging about at their meeting. Maybe they weren’t so different. Her words began ringing through her head again. She really needed to loosen up.

 “Now, I am going to fight Lincoln and you’re going to tell me why I won.” she got up and started walking towards Lincoln.

“I don’t think so.” Indra stopped her.

“What is the problem? I wanted to show my second some basic moves.”

“You are a master now. That means you can’t be in a match with someone who isn’t. You can’t fight seconds anymore. If you want to fight, come join the other masters.”

There was no way this was going to end well. All the other masters were much more experienced. This was literally Trini’s first day. She called Aden over and Indra led them to the other side of the Pits.

“So, who am I fighting? You?” Trini stood in the middle of the pit.

“Oh, no. You have fought me many times. Today you need a challenge. Tristan, komba raun! [Tristan, approach!]” Indra waved her hand at someone. The man, Tristan, immediately ran to her. He was very tall and looked strong. He had a particularly disturbing look in his eyes. Like he wanted to snap someone’s spine with his bare hands. Trini was a bit nervous, but Aden was afraid.

“Don’t do it! Don’t fight him!” he cried out.

“Have a little faith, Aden. You haven’t seen me fight.”

“No…” Aden whispered.

“Let’s begin. No weapon?”

“No weapon.” Tristan said and charged. He made a few powerful swings trying to hit Trini’s face. She dodged them all and hit him in the stomach as hard as she could, but it didn’t seem to bother him much. She tried a kick, but he caught her leg and drew her closer so he could punch her in the face. She received a few good punches before she broke free and fell to the ground. He picked her up by her neck and plunged his fist into her stomach. She was out of breath, but still managed to use his hand as support for her next kick. She broke free again.

“Quint! Feel free to join in.” Indra was determined to embarrass Trini.

When Trini saw Quint running towards her, she didn’t have time to complain. She hit Tristan’s foot, causing him to lean down. She stood on his back with one foot, using him to jump higher and hit Quint in the face while he was approaching. Quint fell and Trini landed on top of him and started tirelessly hitting his face. He couldn’t fight back so she only stopped when Tristan dragged her off him. He then threw her to the ground and kicked her with his feet again and again while she tried to roll away.

“No! Stop it! You’re hurting her!” Aden yelled. He wanted to run to his master and help her, but Lincoln came up from behind him and held him still. Aden kept screaming how this wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t do anything.

When he looked back at Trini, she was punching Quint and pulled him over her shoulder so he fell. Tristan was charging at her, but she moved and he fell on top of Quint. Both men were trying to get up, but couldn’t because of the other one, so they just floundered in the mud. Then Tristan got mad and started punching the other man and he reciprocated. Trini took the time to come to her senses. She spoon around a few times preparing for a strong kick to the back of Tristan’s head. He immediately passed out preventing Quint from getting up. Trini took advantage of this and stamped on his face hard enough to make him unconscious, too.

Trini breathed a sigh of relief before Aden ran to her to make sure she was fine.

\-----

Trini was quite sore, but breathing. She went to her room to clean some of the blood and the mud off her. Even before she entered she heard someone inside, crying. It was Lexa. Trini wanted to say something, but instead walked over to the bed and hugged her sister who completely relaxed into her arms.

“What happened to you?” Lexa whimpered.

“Indra got me into a fight with two skilled warriors. I won.”

“Anything new on Ontari?”

“No, snacha. She’s gone.”

“I was so stupid,” Lexa cried even harder, “And now Nia’s going to know all your secrets because I trusted her.”

“Lexa, it was a beautiful thing you did to that girl.”

“It was stupid!”

“Shh… You listen to me, my little hero. What you did was incredibly brave. You showed that you have a big heart and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t want you to ever lose that.” Trini gently stroked her sister’s hair.

“I will never trust anyone again. It hurts too much. I thought she was my friend.”

“I know that you feel betrayed and you have every right to. But that is no reason to stop believing in people. You have to give people a chance. It’s true that it sometimes doesn’t work out. But when it does it’s worth it. Please promise me you won’t stop hoping. That’s one of the things I like most about you.”

“It’s hard.”

“I know. But I trusted Roan and it wasn’t a mistake. And Luna, and Lincoln. If you don’t trust anyone then it doesn’t matter how many people you have by your side, you’re always alone.”

“I’ll try, Trini.” she hugged her sister tighter.

\-----

Leah was out on another meeting with Lincoln. She has developed a routine by now. She was climbing in through the window, like she did every night, when she heard a voice.

“Leah? What are you doing?”

It was Susan’s voice. What was she doing awake?

“I am coming back from a walk.” Leah lied.

“Why did you go for a walk in the middle of the night?”

“I like walking in the dark, Sue. Now I want to sleep.”

“Why are you holding reins from a horse? Where exactly did you walk?”

“I will tell you the truth, Sue, but you mustn’t tell anyone else.”

“I promise I won’t.” The little girl got a bit excited.

“I was meeting my boyfriend.”

“You already found a boyfriend? Who is it?”

“He is not from Frikru. I knew him before. And I am talking him into joining our city.”

“I hope he comes here so I can meet him.”

“I hope so, too. And not a word to anyone.” Leah slipped into bed. She hoped for her own sake that Susan was better at keeping secrets than Lexa.

\-----

Soon came morning. Tiffy was making breakfast while Harry and Susan waited at the table. Harry was bouncing a rubber ball of the wall.

“I said not to play with that thing at the table.” Tiffy said to her son.

“But we’re not eating.” he complained.

“No playing.” Tiffy walked over and took it from him, “Why isn’t Leah up yet? Can you go and get her, Sue?”

What they didn’t know was that Leah was already awake, dressed and walking down the stairs. She couldn’t see them, but she could hear them. She stopped and listened as soon as she realized they were talking about her.

“I think we should let her sleep.” Sue avoided eye contact with her mother.

“Why? Did she have trouble sleeping?” Tiffy asked and gave them each an orange.

“Something like that.” Sue was getting nervous. Tiffy picked up on that and positioned herself right in front of the little girl’s face.

“What are you not telling me, Sue?”

“Mom, I… She asked me not to tell.”

“Sue, I am legally responsible for her now. Whatever it is, I have a right to know.”

“OK. She rode out of town to meet her boyfriend last night.”

“Her what?” Harry almost spat out a piece of his orange.

Leah heard the whole thing. There was no explaining what she’s done. She soundlessly returned to her and Susan’s room to take a few things and sneak out one last time.

“She has a boyfriend in the clans and she went to meet him and convince him to join us.” Susan confessed.

“She’s been talking to someone who’s not from Frikru? I have to talk to her. Harry, run over to Keni’s house and get him here as soon as possible.”

By the time Harry got out of the house Leah was already close to the fence. When Susan went to look for her in her room, all she found was a note that said: “IM SORRI”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important developments:  
> -Queen Nia tries to get Trini to join her, but Trini refuses…  
> \- Trini chooses Aden to be her second  
> \- Ontari runs back to Azgeda and decides to tell Nia all Trini’s secrets  
> \- Luna is found out and must flee Frikru  
> The finally chapters await you… :D


	8. Heda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 8th chapter! Here you go…  
> The thing that’s special about this one is that I had help from morpheusthedreamer. Thank you a lot. And I do need it…

“Trini! Trini, where are you?” Lincoln screamed across the halls.

Trini heard him. It was another crisis again. She could hear it in his voice. She wanted to avoid it. Ignore him, but couldn’t. What else could possibly go wrong?

“I’m here.” she raised her voice.

“Trini! It’s Luna! She’s back. And they got to her first. They’re bringing her to the Commander. She’ll go on trial, for treason. You have to do something!” he was out of breath from running.

“Why is she back? Did you talk to her?” Trini couldn’t believe this. She wasn’t supposed to come back until Trini explained everything to the Commander.

“No! Her master caught her riding for the capital and is about to present her to Heda. You have to go to her and explain. Hurry!”

Trini didn’t waste time trying to make sense of what happened. She ran for the Throne room and burst in.

“Mother, it is of most importance that I speak to you right away!” she slammed the door behind her.

Takoma was just listening to complaints. There was a pretty big line of people in front of her throne.

“Clear the room.” Takoma whispered to her Flame Keeper. Titus then told the people Heda was done receiving for today. The guards helped guide everyone out and then left, together with Titus.

“I hope this is important Trini.” Takoma said when they were alone.

“You know how you asked me to help you fight Frikru? Well, I took that very seriously. I realized our biggest problem is that we don’t know anything about them while they know every-” Trini was interrupted.

“Just tell me what is it you did wrong?”

“I sent Luna, the Floukru second to join Frikru. To gather information. She didn’t betray her master. She was just more loyal to you.”

“Seems as if she’s loyal to you.”

“No mother… I told her it was your plan. I’m sorry, I know it was wrong.” Trini has become an expert liar. She almost teared up during this fake apology.

“Did she find out anything useful?”

“I lost contact with her a few days ago. I think she was discovered and is probably dead. I just didn’t want her memory to be ruined by my lies. I want her to be remembered as a hero.”

“I understand she was your friend. But I told you nothing good ever comes from that. As for the lying, you could have told me your plan. I would have sent someone more… Up to the task.”

At that moment Talb, the Floukru leader, entered.

“Heda, my second returned. I brought her here to be judged by you. She’s in the dungeons. She admitted to joining the enemy.” You could sense some sadness in the old man’s voice.

“There will be no need for that. Trini, go and bring her here to me.” Takoma ordered.

\-----

This was the first time Luna was ever held captive. The bars, the smell, the water draining from the ceiling, the cold, it all reminded her of what she lost. She lost the trust of her master and her family. She loved being Leah, but she lost that too. She betrayed all of the people that believed in her. She lost it all. And for what?

She sobbed quietly in the corner of her cell. She wrapped her hands around herself to try and stay warm, but she was still shivering. She thought of Lincoln and smiled for a second, but then quickly remembered she lied to him too.

“Luna! Luna!” It was Trini’s voice. The voice of the person that put her through all of this. She didn’t answer. She just kept quiet.

“Luna, I talked to my mother. You’re free. I’m here to take you up there.” Trini continued when she saw her friend. Luna stood up and came closer to the bars.

“You’re so satisfied with yourself, aren’t you?” she spoke quietly, but harshly.

“What?”

“You enjoy this. The game. You like being this secret leader. Having a lot at stake.”

“What are you talking about? You think I wanted to find you in a dungeon. Why did you leave anyway?”

“They found out. They accepted me into their family before they even knew my name. They cared and I lied. I let them down. All for you!” With that last sentence Luna slammed her hands against the bars.

“You know me. I didn’t want that to happen. You’re my friend.”

“You don’t have friends, Trini. You have followers.”

“That is not fair. You know it isn’t like that.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you, Strikheda, are exactly like any other Heda. You’d do anything it takes to win. You don’t care what happens to us as long as we obey you. Do you even see us as people or are we just pawns on a board to you?”

“Stop it!”

“You enjoy this power play more than most. You won’t stop after this. You will never stop!”

Trini then remembered Nia’s words once more. Until now there was not a doubt in Trini’s mind she was doing the only good thing for everyone. But now the person that probably knew her best said all those things. What was she doing? Luna could have been killed out there.

“I don’t do it for me. I am the only one trying to stop the killing. The war. I’m trying to do what’s best for everyone.”

“Well, who gave you the right to decide what’s best?”

Trini tried to say something, but Lincoln walked over and they both stopped talking. He freed Luna and hugged her. Then they all started walking to the Throne room in complete silence.

\-----

There Luna told the Commander the short and a bit altered story about her visit to Frikru. She exaggerated the number of people they have, and the firepower they possess.

“Very well. You are dismissed. You’re free to return to your master.” Takoma nodded and the guards opened the door. Luna left.

“You see, mother? It was useful.” Trini said walking closer to the throne.

“I must admit, I expected less from them. Not long ago they were just a few stubborn outlaws running through the woods. Now, they seem adequately organized.”

“I know, mother. That’s why I thought-”

“They must be defeated. I cannot pass that problem on to you. Their miserable existence ends with my reign.”

“I wanted to say; maybe fighting them now isn’t the smartest choice.”

“It is the only choice. Those people want to endanger our home. I will not just look the other way.”

“You are right, mother.” Trini backed away. She couldn’t risk Takoma suspecting anything. She’s wandered off the plan too much anyway.

“And now I have a way to handle Nia. I caught her son creeping around our halls.”

“Here?” Trini tried to act surprised, but she knew exactly what happened. Roan and Anya have been spending a lot of time together and didn’t always stay in the forest where it was mostly safe.

“Yes, here. He’s in the dungeons now. I can’t wait to see the Queen’s reaction when I use her own son against her.”

“She’ll have to listen to you.”

“Exactly.”

\-----

In the morning Trini didn’t think she’d have to see a friend of hers behind bars, but now she was going down there for the second time. Roan was kept in a different section than Luna. Heda had also assigned two guards to watch him every second of the day.

“Go outside.” Trini ordered them.

“Excuse me, but we were told by the Commander not to let anyone converse with the prisoner except her.” One of the men spoke. You could see that he was careful and respectful towards Trini.

“I am the Commander’s second. Everything I say is coming straight from the Commander,” that was a lie, “and I don’t appreciate your tone. If I cannot speak to the prisoner, maybe I should speak to my mother about getting you a more appropriate job. Maybe a clothes washer?”

The man said nothing just signaled his friend and they both walked out of there, leaving Trini alone with Roan. The Prince had a tight grip on the bars and was watching the whole thing, smirking. Trini came closer and grabbed hold of the bars.

“I was wondering when I’ll be seeing you, Strikheda. I’m actually disappointed you didn’t knock out these guys.” he said.

“It is kind of sad when you start using your words instead of your fists. I must be getting old…” They both chuckled after she said that.

“So what happened?” Trini asked.

“I was reckless, I got caught. It’s not your concern. I’ll be fine.”

“No. I vowed to take care of all of you. To do what’s best for everyone. How can I do that if I can’t even look after my best friends?” Trini got a bit teared up.

“What is this about? I told you, it’s fine by me. You did everything the way you were supposed to. I failed. Let me pay for it.”

“What kind of a Strikheda am I if I can’t even protect the only people that ever believed in me?”

“The best. Choose your battles, Trini. This one’s not worth it.”

“You called me Trini.”

“It felt weird. Now go!”

“I can talk to my mother. I’ll tell her that I’m in love with you. She’ll fall for it.”

“No. No. Trini, listen to me. You have to stop the war. That’s the only thing that matters.”

“My mother will torture you.”

“I know. Maybe it would be even worse if she thinks we’re together.” There was that smirk on his face again. She didn’t want to admit it, but it made her feel better.

“For the lock.” she said handing him a knife, “Try to make it home. But be careful. Your mother knows about you and Anya now. Ontari made sure of it.”

\-----

It’s only been a few days since Trini started training with Aden and already he was improving. Today they were focusing on his sword fighting skills and Trini was truly impressed. They were still using dull swords, but that too will change in a few years.

Trini’s sword touched Aden’s shoulder.

“You’re bleeding. Dead.” she smiled. He then took a few steps back and they started all over again. They were practicing in the woods, not the training yard, since she remembered she always hated how the older kids laugh at the little ones. Then she saw Luna and Lincoln not far from them. They didn’t see her. They were preoccupied with each other. First they were laughing, then kissing, then laughing again. From where Trini was standing it looked like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Oh, how she wished she could be happy like that with someone. She had a ton of friends from different places, people liked her, but all she wanted sometimes was that. Her mother was a Natblida and still managed to fall in love. Trini doubted it was ever going to happen to her.

_To be Commander is to be alone._ She heard that sentence so many times from different people and didn’t believe it for a second, till now. Maybe she is always going to be alone. The others will never get it.

Aden’s sword touched her stomach.

“Dead!” he was ecstatic.

“Good job, Aden. I think we are done for today. You can play just don’t go too far from the tower.”

“Sure.”

Trini was feeling broken and decided to go straight for her room. As soon as she was alone she burst into tears.

\-----

Aden went to the river and just sat there in the sun. Everything was peaceful. He was throwing rocks in the water when he felt someone grab him. He tried to free himself from the grip, but couldn’t. Then he screamed for help. Just as he stopped resisting, the person let him go.

 “You didn’t put up much of a fight, boy.” Indra said.

“I saw you’re reflection in the water.” he said quietly, not even looking at her. Trini warned him never to talk to Indra.

“Aren’t you clever? What else did Trini teach you?”

“She didn’t teach me. I just thought of it.”

“But you must talk to her all the time. What did she tell you?”

“About fighting.”

“Where did she disappear to? Do you know that? You have to answer me.”

“I don’t know.”

“I forgot how worthless little seconds are. I will ask you about Trini’s movements tomorrow. And you better know then.”

“I won’t tell you anything. You’re not my master. I don’t have to listen to you.”

“You will. Or else,” she came real close to him, “Tell your master I will find out what she’s hiding.”

\-----

Lexa saw her sister cry on only a few occasions. She was doing fine when their mother was hurt and almost died. She never cried when she was injured, even if she was in pain. She was always comforting people, but no one ever had to comfort her. That’s why Lexa was so surprised when she found her crying in her room. The little sister did the only thing she could think of and hugged her.

“I needed that.” Trini whispered once she had calmed and kissed her sister’s forehead.

“Why are you crying, Trini?” Lexa was getting teary just looking at her.

“It’s nothing. I just… I have no plan to stop the battle. Roan’s gone. Luna hates me. Mother won’t listen. Ontari played us and I let her… I feel like everything that happens is my fault for not stopping it. Like somehow, everyone expects me to take care of everything.”

“Nothing? Seems like everything.”

“You could say that. I just feel so powerless now.”

“You have us. You have your council. We can help.”

“I don’t think you can. Dad was right. While our mother is the Commander and has final say I can do nothing.”

“She is not a very good commander. She is supposed to be strong, and wise, and compassionate. She’s just strong.”

“Lexa, come on…”

“I’m serious. You’re the only one I know that is all three of those things. I wish you could be commander.” Lexa didn’t even realize that she gave Trini an idea. A risky one, but if it worked it would be worth it.

“Can you gather the council with Costia’s help? I have something to say.” Trini wiped off her tears and walked out, but not before hugging her sister one more time.

\-----

The seconds and Nightbloods were soon all in the small basement room. Luna started telling them about her experience at Frikru, this time the truth.

“… and they welcomed everyone. They show such faith in people that arrive.” Luna was finishing up.

“That is everything we managed to find out. So it is obvious-” Trini started, but was interrupted.

“ _I_ found out. It was just me there.” Luna smirked. She wasn’t done punishing Trini. Ignoring her all day obviously wasn’t enough.

“As I was trying to say, our plan was to try and avoid the battle by directing the Commander and her army into a canyon, while telling Frikru to avoid it. Now, since Luna had to pull away from her task, we are unable to get a message through to the Frikru leader. Their army has already started marching through the desert. Another solution must be found and I think we are left with nothing but extremes-”

“Why don’t you ride out and meet him? He is your daddy. Or you can just stop an army all by yourself, shouldn’t be a problem for you.” Luna said as sarcastically as she could.

“Back room. Now.” Trini said with a determinant tone and a bloodthirsty look. Luna was smiling up until she met Trini’s gaze. She didn’t even think to object. She followed her friend like hypnotized.

When they were alone, Luna felt a bit scared. She tried to fight it, but couldn’t. She’s seen Trini take down better fighters than her a number of times. Or maybe she wasn’t going to beat her. Maybe she was going in for the kill. It would be so easy for her to kill Luna and leave her here where nobody would find her for a long time. Trini saw how uneasy Luna was so she circled around her for a while, not saying a word. Then she picked up a metal rod that was sitting on the floor and made a few swings with it, each one making Luna flinch. Then she swung it right at her face so Luna closed her eyes and prepared for a kick.

“Hit me.” Trini said.

“What?” Luna slowly opened her eyes.

“Hit me. You obviously have a problem with me. Only we don’t have time for that now and I can’t have you undermining me out there. It will make you feel better if you hit me.”

“You think that will solve everything?” Luna took the rod.

“I hope. I have big plans and I need everyone cooperating fully.”

Luna was so mad today. She was so mad it was destroying her and now she had an opportunity to get even and couldn’t swing. She tried, but couldn’t.

“I won’t.” she finally gave up.

“You sure? Once in a lifetime opportunity here.”

“I’m good. What’s the plan?”

“I want to dethrone my mother and become Heda so that I can let Frikru carry out their plan.”

“You need the votes of every leader in the coalition.”

“That’s why I have you all.”

“I’m in. You know that?”

“Then we are done here.”

Trini was not so sure about her big plan, but there were not many good options left. There was a rule that a commander could be removed this way, but it has never been done before. Every commander ruled till his or hers death. She didn’t want to think about what she will do with her mother right now. Now she had to convince a group of people to do something even she wasn’t sure was good.

“I have a suggestion for you and it seems to be our best choice in this situation”, Trini started, “I think that reasoning with the Commander has been proven to be a waste of time. That is why we need a new commander. Of course all of you have a right to compete for that title, but that would end with all of us dead besides one. There is a rule which says that a Nightblood can spare another in a conclave if he has surrendered before the fight began. It’s never used because it is considered a great disgrace, but I say dying in a fight you cannot win is a disgrace. So, I promise you if you all surrender I will not kill any of you. If you agree, I plan to take over tomorrow and I need every one of you to tell your masters the truth. What we were doing down here. And tell them I am their only choice if they don’t want to be killed by Frikru. What do you say?”

There was a silence and then Lexa started saying, “Heda! Heda! Heda…”

Everyone joined in and before long, the whole room was cheering for Trini. They all agreed. Sadly their celebration was cut short. The cheering became quieter and quieter as Indra made her way across the room. She has been eavesdropping on the entire meeting. Her face showed no expression.

Trini’s smile faded as she recovered from the shock. This was it. The moment she feared. The moment she was discovered. It felt like her whole world came crashing down.

Indra came very close to Trini, who didn’t back away, probably from the shock. They looked at each other for a few moments and then Indra bowed down in front of Trini. No one in the room could believe it.

“I pledge my loyalty to you, Heda Trini. I vow to protect you, advise you and carry out your every command.” Indra said finally and rose.

“You are with us?” Trini still thought it was a trap.

“I am with you.”

\-----

Roan had no problem picking the cage lock and taking out a few guards to make it safely out of the dungeons. He wanted to go to Anya and tell her he was alive, but he couldn’t. If he got caught, there would be no escape. He had to go and face his mother’s rage. Stealing a horse was no problem either.

He rode without stopping for hours until he finally arrived to the village he was born in. He left the horse and walked to his mother’s house. He didn’t even realize how much he missed this place till now. He also missed the snow and the cold wind.

The guards stopped him before he could enter his house. His mother came out shortly after and asked everyone to leave so they could speak in private.

“She forced you to go after Ontari betrayed them?” Nia asked.

“No. The Commander found out I was there and wanted to use me as leverage. Trini set me free. Told me to go home.”

“She played right into my hand by saving you. Are you sure she’s not in love with you?”

“I am, mother.”

“You know, she will make something out of herself one day. Unlike that wench of yours, you all lied to protect.”

“Anya.”

“What is she? Nothing! You are a Prince. It is only appropriate you marry a girl from our clan. I was willing to let you be with Trini since she was a Nightblood and a future commander.”

“Trini’s a child.”

“Wake up, Roan! She is more mature than you’ve ever been. And soon she’ll have hundreds of suitors from every clan. Do you understand what would it mean for us to have a Nightblood in the dynasty?”

“Just stop! I love Anya.”

“You really are a child. Love? That will fade over time. Power and influence; that will persist. You think I loved your father? He was the most influential man in our clan and I was a young Queen. I needed him. And when we had you I killed him, because he would have done the same to me. However stupid he was, he understood the game.”

“I know you never loved anyone, mother, but that doesn’t mean I can’t!” Roan couldn’t stay strong anymore since she mentioned his father.

“I do love you. A mother has no choice but to love her children. That is why I will give you a choice. You can go right now and tell that whore you don’t love her anymore, or I will kill her.”

“You can’t!”

“You know I will.”

“I… You will never beat Trini. You will never make Ontari commander while Trini breathes. She will stop the war from happening so you won’t be able to take advantage of it. Trini will be the end of you!”

\-----

Tomorrow morning the Commander held a meeting with all the clan leaders to inform them that Frikru has been seen marching for them through the desert. The meeting lasted only a few minutes when the door opened. Lexa held one side of it and Costia the other, while two Nightbloods came in and pointed their swords at the two guards. They backed away from the entrance and then Trini slowly and assertively walked in, followed by all the clan seconds.

“What are you doing? What is this?” Takoma rose from the throne.

“This, mother, is a coup.” Trini stopped herself right in front of Takoma, who looked like she wanted to attack right away, but Trini had Indra and Anya by her side.

“Nou Heda, noumou. [Commander no longer.]” Trini said. All her seconds talked to their masters beforehand so they all knew this was going to happen. They all swore their loyalty to Trini through their seconds. So it didn’t take more than a second for the leaders to start getting up and repeating Trini’s words.

Takoma looked around the room and lost hope with every person that stood up. Soon the only one left sitting was the Sankru Prince Ellic. Every person in the room turned to him.

“I support the current Commander,” he said smiling, “You really thought I would listen to political advice from my little sister?”

His sister Gem begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry, Trini. He lied.” The little girl was almost in tears.

“It’s fine, Gem. You tried.” Trini couldn’t even think about what happens next. If this had worked she would be climbing the steps to the throne right now. Every one of her trusted people had the same concerned and lost look on their faces. The leaders slowly and quietly started sitting back down. The guards used the opportunity to disarm the Nightbloods and put a knife at each of their throats.

“So… This is how you repay my love?” Takoma sat back to the throne and smirked, realizing she has the control of the situation once again.

“I guess it is.”

“My own daughter?”

“I may be your daughter, but you never treated me like one. You were ruthless to both of us. And that is not why I did it. I did it to stop a needless slaughter.”

“You are afraid of war? When the choice is to kill or be killed, there is no choice.”

“That is not the choice. The choice is fight our enemies or fight our friends!”

“Indra, Anya, I give you one last chance to prove your loyalty to me. Seize her and you will be spared.”

“No.” Indra said without flinching.

“Never.” Anya joined.

“Fine then. It’s your choice and you will pay for it,” Takoma turned to Trini, “You didn’t get the vote. That means you challenged me to combat. You can still win. Who do you choose as your champion?”

“I fight my own battles.” Trini knew she was the best around. On a good day she could take her mother, no problem. And putting anyone in even more danger than they already were in for her was unthinkable.

“That only leaves me. Anyone who wants to volunteer?”

No one raised a hand.

“No one? I will choose then. But remember, to refuse to do this for your Commander is treason.” Takoma looked across the room, person by person.

“How about you Luna? Why don’t you fight for me? I’m sure Trini would find that interesting.”

As soon as Takoma said that Luna froze. She had no chance against Trini whatsoever. But it was a match to the death.

Trini wondered how her mother could be so cruel to her own child. She turned her skill in fighting into a disadvantage. If she was going to win she’d have to kill someone important to her. But who? She sensed Takoma wasn’t nearly done.

“No? Fine. I’m just sorry Roan isn’t here. I know how you two like to spend time together.”

Oh, no. She knew that too? That lie was getting out of hand.

“How about Indra? There is something epic about a student killing her own master.” Takoma looked like she was enjoying this.

“If I am going to kill my master it will be you!” Trini yelled. It looked like she got out of control, but in fact she just figured out where this was going and hoped Takoma would chose Indra.

“Slow down now… Definitely not Indra then. Costia? You always had a soft spot for her. You said she was like a sister to you.”

Trini didn’t flinch.

“But, why settle for _like a sister_ when we have a real one here? Lexa, I choose Lexa to represent me.” Takoma smiled. Lexa was the one person Trini cared most about in this world. She would never hurt her. Trini just lost.

“Mom, don’t do this. We’ll be good!” Lexa burst into tears, realizing she will either die today or kill her sister.

“You did this, not me. Dismissed. Everyone.” Takoma waved a hand.

Lexa ran to the throne, kneeled in front of Heda and started begging. Half of what she was saying wasn’t understandable because of the crying.

Trini couldn’t watch this so she hugged her sister and picked her up. When she carried her out of the Throne room everyone else slowly left.

\-----

Even when they made it to Trini’s room, Lexa was still crying and clinging to Trini like she would die if she let go. Trini sat on the floor and leaned against a wall. Lexa was seated in her lap like when she was little and didn’t show any sign of moving.

Trini put her arms around her one more time, kissed her temple and hummed a melody. There was a knock on the door and Indra let herself in. She was immediately distracted by the crying child in Trini’s arms, but was given a nod signaling her to speak anyway.

“I will take care of it for you, Trini. It’s the least I can do for you. I will kill the Commander and you will become the next one. You’ll just have to kill me for treason.”

“There is no way I’d do that, Indra. No one else dies for me. This was my mistake and only my life can pay for it.” The thought of Indra slowly bleeding out tied to a post was unacceptable.

“But, Trini…”

“You vowed to listen to me. Remember?”

“I also vowed to protect you, Heda.”

“I am not Heda. I never will be,” Trini looked at her sister who started sobbing lighter, “Can you leave us now? I have to explain to her what she has to do.”

“I am not killing you!” Lexa said after Indra left.

“Lexa, you know there are only two ways this ends.”

“So kill me. At least you’ll be Commander. You’ll save everyone.”

“Lexa…”

“No! No!” Lexa hugged her sister even tighter. Trini sighed. She was already at peace with what had to be done.

“Lexa, I believe in you. You’re strong enough, so calm down and listen to my plan.”

Lexa didn’t say anything.

“This is it,” Trini stroked her sister’s hair, “We will begin our fight and we’ll both choose spears as weapons. Then we’ll pretend to have an argument. We’ll practice it in a minute. In the middle of it, when no one is expecting it, I will throw my spear in your direction, but not at you, at mother. I’ll kill her. And then you’ll take your spear and stab me.”

“No! Why would I if mom is dead?”

“They’ll punish me with the death of a thousand cuts if you don’t. I know you can. You’re strong.”

“I’m not.”

“And since you killed me, not a single Natblida will be stupid enough to challenge you. And you will be Commander. You’ll stop the war.”

“I can’t!”

“Never tell yourself that. You can do anything.”

Lexa knew in her heart Trini’s plan was the only chance they had. She’s killed people before, but this was something else entirely. They spent a few hours practicing their routine perfectly. Every word and every swing was planned. Sometime close to morning Lexa fell asleep in Trini’s arms. Her sister just looked at her peaceful face and smiled.

Trini remembered vividly how much she objected when her parents told her she was getting a sibling. She threatened to run away and ignored her mother all through her pregnancy. On the day of Lexa’s birth, Keni sat his, then seven-year-old, daughter down and talked to her about the responsibility of taking care of family. Trini just shook her head, saying that she won’t have anything to do with the baby.

Then her father went into a room and came back with a tiny, crying bundle. Even though Trini didn’t want to hold her sister, Keni put the baby in her arms anyway. Lexa immediately stopped crying and looked at her sister. When Trini looked at those tear streaked cheeks, she could have sworn she detected a smile. It was at that moment that Trini knew she’d be stuck taking care of this creature for the rest of her life. And somehow, she didn’t mind at all. As soon as she looked at those green eyes she knew she’d protect this person for as long as she could.

Today, she looked at that same face, ten years later, and it still made her feel like her sacrifice was worth it. Trini didn’t even realize that tears were streaming down her face until one of them rolled off her cheek and fell to Lexa’s shoulder. The craziest part was that she wasn’t crying because she was going to die tomorrow; she was crying because Lexa will be left alone.

She drifted off to sleep too as the sun was rising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the important things:  
> -Luna came back and the Commander forgave her everything.  
> \- Luna was quite pissed at Trini because of all the things she had to do for her.  
> \- Trini decided to overthrow her mother when Luna forgave her.  
> \- Indra found out what Trini was hiding and decided to join them.  
> \- They attempted a coup, but didn’t have the vote of Prince Ellic  
> \- Takoma chose Lexa to represent her in the fight against Trini  
> Hope you’re able to follow…


	9. Incoming Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big fight…  
> I always thought the fight in 3x04 wasn’t Lexa’s first match to the death.  
> We’re almost at the end and I really hope someone is reading this.

A sword, an axe, a spear, a dagger, a sickle, a stick and a mace.

Trini picks up the spear and the crowd goes wild, half of them approving of her choice, half condemning it. Lexa does the same thing, but the people don’t seem to care. They all want Trini to win. It was obvious and it gave Takoma a chill. The stories about Frikru have changed and now everyone wanted to cooperate. She was losing them. But there was one thing she was certain of; Trini could never hurt Lexa. She knew her daughter well and she would rather slit her own throat than watch Lexa die. That is why Takoma sat comfortably in the big chair, overlooking the arena.

Titus gave the signal to start the fight.

“I don’t want to do this!” Lexa yelled, remembering what they practiced yesterday.

“Neither do I!” Trini joined in.

“Let’s just talk it out.”

“We tried that yesterday. We didn’t decide anything.” Trini started walking closer to her sister.

“What are you doing?” Lexa raised her weapon.

“I won’t hurt you. You’re my sister.” Trini walked even closer and swung her spear at Lexa. The little girl dodged it.

“You said we aren’t going to fight each other! You said you’d never hurt me!” Lexa cried out.

“You’re such a child, Lexa! Only one of us walks out of here and it won’t be you.” Trini tried to attack again. Lexa just tried to get away. Every swing was met with a noise from the crowd.

“You said you’ll stop this!” Lexa was screaming hysterically while trying to get out of the way of Trini’s weapon.

“I am sorry. I wish this played out differently.”

Lexa didn’t answer, but fought back. She almost struck Trini. They were in the agreed upon position. Now it was all on Trini. She looked at her mother and looked for any signs of compassion on her face. She found none. That woman was now as cold and heartless as the Ice Queen she detested so much.

They kept fighting while Trini waited for the perfect moment. And she saw it. Lexa ducked as discussed and Trini had a clear shot. She took another look at her mother, this time to aim. Her mother, who was once her favorite person. The mother that let her sit on her lap on the throne and always told her she was meant for great things. But she was also the mother who made her practice until she passed out from the pain and fatigue. The mother who beat her for no other reason than to make her stronger. The mother that would do this to her daughters.

Trini pulled her hand back and got ready to throw. Then she heard a noise. Loud, like something breaking. She turned around and saw thick white smoke filling the arena. She could barely see the crowd, but she could hear them screaming and running.

“Frikru!” someone yelled. Then two riders appeared out of the smoke, but Trini could hear more.

Takoma wasted no time. She sent a couple of her guards to bring her daughters to her.

Trini saw this and called Lexa over to her, lowering the spear meant for the Commander. She grabbed her sister’s hand and drew her in closer. The Commander’s guards tried to grab hold of both of them, but Trini stabbed one of them with her spear and then killed three more with his sword. Lexa grabbed the dagger from one of them and threw it right at the forehead of the last one. Then someone tapped Trini’s shoulder. It was Keni. Trini jumped and hugged him.

“We have to go. Get your sister; I’m taking you home with me.” Keni said after the hug ended. Trini nodded and turned around to find Lexa. But she wasn’t there anymore. Trini searched desperately for any sight of her little sister, but couldn’t see her. Everything was full of smoke and people running.

“Trini!” At last she saw Lexa being taken away by Takoma’s solder. He was carrying her over his shoulder. She squirmed violently in an attempt to liberate herself, but was just too weak. She kept calling Trini’s name.

“Lexa! I’m here! I’m coming!” Trini took a sword from the ground and got ready to run after her when she felt someone pull her hand.

“You can’t. There’s no way you’d both make it back.” Keni advised his daughter.

“I have to! It’s Lexa! I am not leaving her!”

Keni then grabbed his daughter and started pulling her towards his horse.

“Trini! Trini, help me!” Tears started to pour down Lexa’s cheeks as she reached out her hands towards her sister on the other side of the arena.

“No! No! Let me go. Lexa!” Trini tried her best to shake off Keni and run over to her sister. Then she and the guard that was carrying her disappeared in the smoke. Keni put a black bag over Trini’s head and seated her on his horse. He realized there was nothing else to do for his younger daughter.

 “I’m sorry.” he whispered to Trini and mounted the horse. He and the rest of his people rode off.

“Take my daughter to her room and make sure she stays there.” Takoma instructed her solder. Lexa was still kicking and screaming Trini’s name, but Takoma didn’t flinch. She mounted her horse and ordered two of her people to follow her as she rides into the desert. One of them was Don.

\-----

As the smoke cleared Lincoln ran around desperately, looking for Costia and Luna. He found Luna loading some supplies onto her horse.

“What are you doing? We have to make sure no one got hurt in this mess.” Lincoln approached her.

“Got hurt? If you didn’t notice our Strikheda got taken to Frikru.”

“So we have to make sure her sister and the rest of her people are well.”

“We have to follow her. War is coming, Lincoln. And I won’t just do nothing. I will fight for the right side with Trini.”

“Are you saying you’re leaving? We can’t just leave our people. Trini didn’t want to go.”

“Trini is my people. And you. That’s all I care about.”

“What about Lexa? We just leave her?”

“We’ll take her, too. What’s one guard for us?”

“We don’t know if Frikru will take us. We have to stay here with our Commander.”

“Linc, Trini is our Commander!”

“Her plan failed. She is not in charge anymore. I am not following her blindly into the desert. Or you!”

“Then this is goodbye! I don’t know what I ever saw in you. You’re a complete coward!” Luna rode off.

“We have to find Lexa.” Lincoln heard a quiet voice behind him. He turned around and saw Costia holding her hand covered in blood.

“We will. We just have to help you first.” Lincoln came to her and lifted her up. He ran around carrying her until he saw Indra.

\-----

Luna was heading towards the desert when she saw her master Talb standing in the middle of the road.

“You can’t stop me!” she said aggressively.

“I am not trying to.” He answered calmly as always.

“Then get out of the way. I am going to Frikru!” she stopped her horse in front of him.

“Yes, after your _friend_.”

“Trini is my friend. I am loyal to her.”

“But is she so important to you that you’ll throw your life away?”

“Just stop.”

“The good thing about Frikru is that everyone is treated equally. You want to know the bad thing? Everyone is treated _equally_. If you go there, it wouldn’t matter that you’re smart and a great fighter. You’ll still work three jobs every day and still have school.”

“I don’t care.”

“Here you are not equal to everyone else. You are a clan second. In a few years you are meant to succeed me. To lead. You think you’ll get that in Frikru?”

“I could…”

“You won’t. You can leave. But if you do there is no coming back this time. I will not wait for you. If you want to be just a soldier; go. But if you think you are more, get off that horse and follow me. We are returning home.”

Luna was quiet. She did hate how strict Frikru was. And Trini was not in charge there. She wasn’t obligated to follow her. Trini’s plan failed. She wasn’t a commander, or a general. Luna jumped from her horse.

\-----

Takoma and the two riders followed Keni and his men for a long while. They began to lose sight of them when they were already in the desert. When Takoma realized there was no way she could catch up with them she ordered her men to stop.

She got off her horse and looked at the distance. She already had a new plan. The riders dismounted too and waited for her command. She said nothing, just turned and hit one of them with a throwing knife and slit the other one’s throat with her sword. Then she kneeled next to the dead body of Don and cut open his body. She smeared his black blood all over her hands and armor. Then she took his sword and cut a pretty serious wound on her left arm. Then she went back to Polis on her horse.

\-----

Lexa was in her room alone for a couple of hours. She couldn’t talk to anyone and was left to her own thoughts. At first she couldn’t get the image of Trini being dragged away out of her head. She just kept reliving it in her mind. Then she asked herself what Trini would do if it was her in here. Trini would certainly not waste time and energy crying like a child. That’s why she decided not to cry any more. She decided that two more times, because the first ones didn’t seem to stick. By the third time she succeeded and tried to think her way out of this situation. Nothing remotely similar to a plan occurred to her.

Then a guard escorted her to the Throne room. Her mother has returned. Before entering Lexa wished she’d see Trini inside. She knew her sister would be better off in Frikru, but couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want to be left alone. She felt those tears coming up again, but successfully stopped them.

The first thing she saw was her mother sitting on the throne with a healer standing next to her, wrapping her hand with a bandage. Lexa managed to only make a few steps before Costia ran to her and hugged her. Her hand was also bandaged. No matter how much Lexa looked around she couldn’t see Trini anywhere. She must have gotten away.

“Approach, Lexa. And kneel for your Commander.” Takoma instructed. Lexa looked over to Anya as if she was asking for permission. The woman nodded slightly. Lexa did as she was instructed without a word.

“Now that you have joined us, I think you all deserve to know what happened to me. I left Polis with two riders to try and rescue my beloved daughter from the monsters that took her.” Takoma started. Lexa was so anxious to hear if Trini got away that she ignored the _beloved_.

“We caught up to them somewhere in the desert. Their general then jumped off his horse, so I assumed he intended to fight me. But I was wrong. He threw my daughter to the ground and made her kneel on the sand. My guards and I tried to save her, but we couldn’t. He shot her right in front of my eyes. She fell to the ground. He would rather see her dead then on our side. My men tried to fight those animals, but were overpowered and killed. I did everything in my power to save Trini, but she was already dead.” Takoma showed her hands covered in black blood and looked away. Lexa couldn’t breathe. There was so much blood it couldn’t all be Takoma’s. Trini couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t! She was always fine in the end.  Why would her father do such a thing? He loved them! Lexa wanted nothing more than to scream. But she didn’t.

“I was hurt trying to get away, so I wasn’t able to retrieve Trini’s body. And that I will always regret.” Heda was still talking.

Costia suddenly took Lexa’s hand when she saw her friend twitching with grief. Lexa knew Keni wanted to win, but not like this! She couldn’t imagine him doing that to his child. But then she remembered her mother was going to do the same thing earlier today. Apparently their lives meant nothing to their parents. Keni killed Trini to scare the whole coalition into doing what he wants.

“Tomorrow their army will reach our borders and we will show them we do not get scared! We will show them who we are. And we will do it for my daughter, our Main Natblida, for Trini!” Takoma was already using Trini’s death as a way to motivate the people. And it broke Lexa’s heart. This loss didn’t make her wish for vengeance. It just left her feeling empty and broken.

Takoma let everyone go about their business. She didn’t even try and console Lexa. The little girl tried to stay strong like she was expected to do. Like Trini always did. She was calm all the way out of the room. She walked through the hallway slowly trying to steady her breathing. Then she passed the door to her sister’s room.

She couldn’t block it out anymore. She kneeled and started crying loudly. Costia was near and tried to comfort her, but she was pretty broken herself. Trini was like family to her too. She was always there to defend her. And now she was just gone. Costia got a bit teared up too.

Anya saw them, there on the floor and crouched down next to Lexa.

“She… She loved you so much, Lexa. She would have died for you. You have to honor that and live for her.” Anya put a hand on Lexa’s shoulder.

“You can be sad, just after we win this war. I hope I get the chance to put a sword through the man that did that to her.” Indra passed by and gently pulled Costia aside, “I will take her and go tell Aden. You talk to your second, Anya.”

\-----

Roan was searching for a specific spot in the woods where he and Anya agreed to meet. He’s had a long ride from Azgeda and spent the entire time thinking about Anya. He told his mother he would get rid of her, but he already had a plan worked out. They would escape into the desert and join Frikru. They didn’t owe anyone anything. They can choose whatever side they want. He thought about leaving for so long. Being a king was never a very attractive idea to Roan. Even when he was a young boy.

“You came?” Anya walked out of nowhere.

“Of course I came, skaifaya.” Roan stepped forward and kissed her gently, “What is wrong?”

“Trini’s dead. She tried to take over and failed. Then she had to fight Lexa in a death mach. Frikru came to Polis and killed her.” Anya held back tears. Despite telling Lexa to stay strong she was losing hope herself.

“It can’t be? Trini, no…” Roan leaned against a tree and looked away. Trini was one of the good ones. If anyone had a chance at being a decent commander it was her. She cared. She was special. She was… A friend. And that is not something Roan took lightly.

“I can’t believe it either. It all happened so fast. The match, then Frikru came… Nobody could do anything.” she stroked his arm.

“I know. I just… I really thought she was going to make it. She was smart, capable, incredibly brave…”

“And Lexa is still in the capital. She’s inconsolable. And can you blame her? Trini was more of a role model to her than I ever was. I was supposed to be her master and guide her through this, but I don’t know how…”

Roan could always tell when Anya was about to start crying. He knew the specific face expression she made every time. And it was there now. So he did the only thing he could think of and hugged her tightly.

They couldn’t live in Frikru. Not now. If they killed Trini, they wouldn’t blink twice for the two of them. And there was no way Takoma would let them be if they stayed here. They could live in the desert. Many people do. Make themselves a home somewhere in the wild. Hunt, gather. They wouldn’t need anyone else. They could even start a family of their own. Roan always wanted that. But it’s dangerous out there. What if he couldn’t protect her? She didn’t deserve to live like that, away from all her friends and in constant danger. Not because of him. He couldn’t let that happen.

“And the war is happening. Soon. How did you make it past your mother?” Anya mumbled, with her head still leaned on his chest.

“She let me go.”

“Well, I’m glad she did. But I will go and fight with them tomorrow. I want to avenge Trini. Frikru turned out to be worse than we feared… And then I’m not leaving your side for as long as I live.”

“Listen, I don’t think I’ll be joining you. I have to stand behind my mother.” Roan said. Anya pulled away from the hug. Roan enjoyed it more than any other before because he knew what he had to do next.

“She helped open my eyes to the truth. You’ve been using me. You just want to be Queen someday. You don’t love me.” He raised his voice, but stayed calm.

“How can you say such a thing? You know I love you.” Anya didn’t understand what was happening. Everything was fine a second ago.

“You lie. And I’m done listening. You just wanted to get the throne one day.” Roan was sure he was doing the right thing, but it was still hard.

“Snap out of it! Roan, what happened?” Anya tried to grab his hand, but Roan didn’t let her.

“That’s what I came here to tell you. You only want my status. You don’t care about me. That’s why you’ve made me pull away from my family! Did the Commander put you up to it? To soil the blood line?”

“What is wrong with you? You think I care about your stupid dynasty? I cared about you! I’m not some whore for the Commander!”

“Yeah, you only whore around for yourself!” After saying that Roan got slapped.

“I guess I was stupid, falling for you. I don’t want to see you ever again!”

“Well, I won’t be coming to visit anymore.” he turned around and walked away.

When he couldn’t see her anymore from the trees, he stopped and thought about it some more. She was indeed making him weak. His tears were the only proof needed. They were real tears. This only meant that finding someone for whom he would care so much was going to be impossible. But saying all those hurtful things to her face was hard on him. He just couldn’t let her see him. His lie should keep her away and safe. That’s all that mattered.

Anya stayed in the exactly same spot he left her at. She thought about going after him, but couldn’t move. This was too much for her. She let out a few tears, but it hurt way more than that. Roan was the first person she let herself fall for. She was sure it was worth it with him. Clearly she was wrong.

\-----

Trini was seated in a chair still wearing the black bag over her head. By now she was completely calm, trying to figure out where she was and more importantly how she was going to get back to her sister. First she broke free of her restraints and then sat calmly for hours just listening. She was almost certain she was in a medium sized room. It was empty, but people were often passing it in groups of two to four. She hasn’t heard her father’s voice in a while so she was listening in for his return.

Then she heard people enter the room. She was convinced there were three of them. One of them was her father. She knew his walk by now since he paced a lot around her when they first brought her in. Another one of them walked like he had a leg injury. The third one walked quietly and gracefully.

The bag was slowly removed from her head. At first Trini couldn’t see anything, but as her eyes adjusted she realized her count was right.

She wasted no time but jumped of the chair and slammed the bag onto the head of her father who has removed it moments ago. She pushed him in the direction of the two other soldiers. Keni tripped since he couldn’t get the bag off him and the others were holding him up. Trini used the time to prepare for a strong kick to the leg of one of the solders. He was clearly hurt previously so he fell right away bringing Keni down with him. All that was left was a woman soldier, who Trini didn’t know was Tiffy. Trini took the chair she sat on and hit her with it as hard as she could. Tiffy fell, but Keni was back up. Trini just threw the chair at him and ran out of the room. She found the keys on the other side of the door so she locked them in. She started running through the hallway, but got the attention of three guards that were passing by. She didn’t want to fight them so she ran the other way, but they started chasing her. On the other side she ran into two more people so now she was cornered. She had almost no chance of getting out of this, but prepared to strike anyway. This was for Lexa. She had to try.

She charged at one of them and threw the poor woman to the floor. Suddenly there were four guns pointed at her. Trini wasn’t sure if they’d really shoot her, but she stopped anyway. She was thinking about taking a gun from one of them when she felt someone grab her and put a rag to her mouth. She passed out in seconds.

\-----

Harry and Sue were in the middle of a very pointless argument. It was about a fictional book character, but neither of them would let it go, so they decided to find the book and check who is right. They couldn’t find it in the main library. Somebody else must have taken it. The only other choice they had was to visit the General’s personal library. It seemed as a good idea at the time since they knew Keni so well and believed her wouldn’t mind. But it turned serious when a few guards entered swiftly and threw in a young girl who was struggling to get free. She tried to run for the door, but they slammed it shut and locked it before she could escape.

Sue and Harry found themselves in a potentially troublesome situation. They didn’t tell anyone they were here and this person seemed pretty aggressive. They could be stuck with her here for a long time. Harry instructed his sister to duck with him and try and hide behind the books.

It seemed to be working. The girl didn’t see them, but they saw her. She was obviously focused on getting out. She was banging her fists on the door, yelling something they didn’t understand. Then she stopped and started walking around inspecting everything. She walked around slowly and made it to their bookcase. She looked at the books on the shelves just above their heads.

Then out of the blue she pushed a few books on the bookcase and hit them right in their faces. Then she moved out of the way and pushed over the bookcase. Next she grabbed hold of Harry, who was still getting over the last hit, and threw him to the floor. She twisted his arm and pinned him down.

Sue got scared and started yelling for her to stop. In that moment Trini realized what she was doing. That little girl’s screams reminded her of Lexa. This boy didn’t do anything to her. She was being cruel. She let go of Harry without saying a word and sat down on the floor next to the door.

Sue ran to Harry to make sure he was OK. He was fine except for a bloody nose. He sat up on the floor and looked at his attacker. It was a beautiful girl dressed in half-armor. She appeared sad and lost, not dangerous. Then he saw blood pouring from her forehead. It was completely black.

“Is your name Trini?” he asked carefully.

“How do you know that?” she looked at him suspiciously.

“Your father told us a lot about you. We know you’re a Nightblood.”

Trini then studied them once more.

“Are you Harry and Susan? I heard things about you too.” She recognized them from Luna’s stories.

“Yes.” Harry was surprised.

“Luna told me. You know her as Leah. I sent her. She reported to me.” Trini spoke listlessly.

“How did you end up here?”

“I don’t have time for that. If Keni spoke to you about me then he must have mentioned my sister. Lexa. She is now alone in the capital with my mother. I have to get back to her.” Trini rose and started banging on the door again.

“You’ll never open it from here. This was a bunker. It was built to withstand a nuclear war. It’s pointless.”

“You don’t understand. I have to. What would you do if it was your sister out there?”

“I’d probably be doing the same thing you are.” Harry sighed. Trini started pulling her fingers slowly across the frame of the door. She was looking for an opening, a crack, something.

“You’re bleeding”, Harry started again, “Let me at least look at the wound. I’m training to be a doctor.”

“No time.” Trini told him when he got too close.

“You could have internal bleeding… I just want you to calm down for a few minutes.”

“No. There’s a war coming. People are going to die and all because I failed. The least I can do now is take care of my sister.”

“The war is already here”, Sue said out of the blue, “Mom told me. Are you with _us_ , Trini?”

Trini wanted to answer, but didn’t know how at this moment. During this whole thing she liked to believe she had a side of her own. Now… She had to choose, didn’t she?

\-----

The door to the library/bunker stayed closed for hours. Trini and the siblings exchanged a few more sentences in that time, but then both focused on their tasks. Harry found the book they were looking for, which only proved Susan was right all along. Trini looked around some more and when she didn’t find anything she took a wooden chair and threw it at the wall. The thing broke down to pieces. It seemed like rage then, but she wanted to use it as a weapon. She took the two planks that used to be the chair’s legs and sat down on the floor next to the entrance. Someone had to come. Eventually.

She waited, and waited, sitting as still as possible, conserving strength. Then the door started opening. She jumped from the floor with such speed and ferocity. She pushed the door back, hitting whoever was opening it. Then she opened it again and found herself face to face with an incredibly tall and muscular solder. She struck him with the chair legs a couple of times, but the pieces of wood just broke. It seemed as she was bringing more harm to herself than to him. Then she tried to just slip by him and make a run for it, but he caught her and held her still. Tiffy walked over from the hall when she saw Trini was constricted.

“Are you about done now?” The blonde woman asked.

“I think I am. I won’t fight any more if you take me to my father.” Trini said assertively.

“That’s why I’m here now. I just brought a friend in case you did… Well, that.”

“I had to try.”

“I understand. I think you’ll fit right in Trini. I’m Tiffany, Right Hand of the General.”

“Well, Tiffany Right Hand of the General, I am not staying.”

“You’ll speak to your father about that.”

Then Tiffy gave the man a look and he let the young girl move freely. Tiffy half-expected Trini to start fighting them again, but she followed them calmly to Keni’s office. There she was left alone to speak to her dad.

“I’m glad you stopped resisting. The emergency room was pretty active today because of you.” Keni smiled at his daughter like he was seeing her for the very first time.

“I am very grateful to you for saving my life, but we have more important things to discuss.” Trini ignored his attempt to make casual conversation.

“I know. I really wish you won the vote against your mother. It would have prevented the meaningless slaughter that will take place tomorrow.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to join you tomorrow. I want to fight for Frikru. If you’ll have me.”

“Trini, I waited ten years to hear you say those words”, he came closer, “But I can’t let you fight this battle. You were almost their leader. Any good general wouldn’t allow you to join our army. There’s too much at stake.”

“I was on your side the entire time.”

“Yes, sending Leah here. I admit that was smart and we fell for it, but that doesn’t mean…”

“Dad, please. I have to stop her. I have to stop mother. And save Lexa and all the others that were on my side from the beginning. I got away, thanks to you, but they are all still there, probably answering for my crimes. My treason. I can’t allow that. They are my people, my friends.”

“I understand, Trini, I really do. But you’re staying here. Out there you had to become responsible too soon and have other people’s lives depend on you. Now you have to stay safe and let me handle things.” He put a hand on her shoulder. First she looked angry, but it quickly turned into sadness.

“Then you have to promise me something… You give them a chance to surrender. And when you win don’t raid the villages, don’t kill the defeated. Just go take down Mountain Weather.”

“I’d never exact revenge rather then move forward. That is not how we work here in Frikru. You’ll learn.”

“That is not all. I also want your word you’ll bring Lexa and anyone who wants to come back with you.”

“I promise. I’ll find your sister. And we’ll live here together.” Keni hugged his older daughter and she honestly didn’t mind. It was frustrating, but kind of liberating to let someone else lead for a moment.

“Tiffy’s children will show you around while I’m gone. Play nice.” Keni said and his daughter just smirked.

After Trini left to be given a kind of Frikru orientation, Tiffy came to the General’s office.

“You know, your daughter is really something else.” She grinned.

“I know. Gets that after her mother.”

“First she breaks a man’s leg and dislocates another’s shoulder. Then she just has a pleasant chat with Harry and Sue.” Tiffy was a bit bothered by his mention of Trini’s mother. She never allowed herself to think about it too much, but talking about his life before Frikru always aggravated her deeply.

“I think she’ll fit right in.” He smiled more honestly than Tiffy has ever seen before. She loved his smile.

“If she’s anything like her father.” She couldn’t help but mirror his expression.

“So is that all you wanted to tell me? I already knew my daughter was special.”

“Well, I have to inform you General that your army is ready to go whenever you give the order. But what I wanted to say…”

“Yes?”

“We have the upper hand, that is true, but we are going off to war and I just wanted to ask you something. If something were to happen to me out there, would you please take care of my children? Harry is sixteen, I know, but he needs someone. They didn’t have a dad for the most part of their lives and-” Tiffy got teary so Keni cut her off.

“Tiff. Of course I would take care of them. But I won’t have to since we’ll both be fine.”

It’s been seven years since Tiffany’s lost her husband and now, right here with Keni, she thought she was finally ready. Ready to admit her feelings to herself and to Keni. He felt like more than a friend. She wanted to see where it would go with them. But she decided to wait until after the battle when he has both his daughters again to bring any of it up.

It was tempting to say it now, since they were standing so incredibly close. But she knew better.

\-----

Aden was not even four years old. He never had to say goodbye to someone he really cared for. His parents and brothers were alive and well. He never had any friends aside from the other Nightbloods that trained with him. And now his master was just gone. He was at the fight and suspected she wasn’t going to make it out alive, but the Frikru attack filled him up with hope just so it could be crushed once again. He was sitting next to Lexa at the moment, on the floor of the Throne room. She was waiting for the Commander and wanted some company. Aden was sadly not very good at casual chit-chat in general, but now he was hopeless. He tried to be brave and stop crying, but failed. He was quietly sobbing.

“Aden, settle down already.” Lexa said firmly, but calmly. She had it the hardest. Trini was her sister after all, even though it seemed everyone saw her as a role model. Trini was the only family member Lexa could ever count on. But the little girl got through it. Even she didn’t know how. She was able to sit calmly and go about her business as usual.

“Give him some space, Lexa. It’s hard. If it’ll help, you can talk to us about it.” Costia joined in. She was also cried out by now, but wasn’t nearly as at peace as Lexa.

“I wanted to have a master for so long. I started thinking it would never happen. And then it did. She was perfect.” Aden started. Costia broke into tears again hearing his cute, little voice.

“I know, Aden. We’ll find you another master. I’ll take care of you.” Lexa felt like she was obligated to step in instead of her sister.

“I’ll be your master.” she continued.

“You can’t. You’re little, like me.” Aden spoke through the tears.

“Well, I’ll make it work. You watch me.”

“That won’t happen. How about Indra?” Costia tried to be helpful.

“That could work. She thought Trini everything she knew.” Lexa accepted Costia’s idea.

“No! I want Trini!” Aden wasn’t calming down. So Lexa got up and walked all the way to where he was sitting and crouched down to his level.

“Listen to me, I know you’re hurting, but you need to get it together. We all miss Trini, but we can’t despair.” As Lexa was saying that she got a bit teared up. She could still barely say Trini’s name. In that moment Takoma walked in.

“Commander.” They all stood up and bowed.

“Leave me and my daughter alone.” Takoma ordered so Aden and Costia left the room.

“Tears?” She looked at one currently slipping down Lexa’s face.

“Sorry, mother.” Lexa wiped it off and took a deep breath. Her mother finally changed from the blood-covered clothes she rode in wearing. Lexa didn’t think she could make it through another conversation where she had to stare at her sister’s blood.

“I am here to say goodbye to you and to ask something of you.” Takoma started. Her hand looked better, but was still bandaged.

“You are going? You’re hurt, mom.” Lexa actually felt concerned for the woman. She was the only family she had left by her side.

“I cannot abandon my people. One day you will understand. They will not respect me if I just give a command. I have to be there carrying it out beside them.”

“They will understand if you’re hurt.”

“I am going and that is the end of that discussion! Now… About the question. Trini is dead”, the words stung Lexa like blades, “Will you command while I’m gone?”

“You want me to look after the capitol?”

“I’m taking Titus with me so that just leaves the Nightbloods. There are older ones to choose from, but you are the most skilled one. You are now the Main Natblida, Lexa. And you’re my daughter. What do you say?”

“Yes. I’ll do it.”

“Good girl.” Takoma said and hugged Lexa. This, unlike their previous hugs, felt strange and cold. Like it was an obligation, not a show of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important developments:  
> -Keni and Frikru interrupt the fight and Trini is taken to Frikru by force  
> -Takoma tried to get her back, but when she failed she told everyone Trini was dead  
> -Trini meets Susan, Tiffy and Harry in Frikru and agrees to stay until the end of the war  
> -Luna returns to Floukru  
> -Roan lies to Anya to cause a break-up to protect her from his mother  
> -Both sides are preparing for war  
> Next chapter is the final. War is coming, people!  
> I just want to invite all of you to leave a comment. It would mean a lot. :)


	10. Warriors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are people… The last chapter. I’ll just get to it. Enjoy. :)

Even though the stories about Frikru were only meant to scare people and prevent them from realizing they would probably be better off joining them, they all got one thing right. All of their horses were black. At first it seems like a pointless obsession with the color. The uniforms, the horses, the guns…  But even Takoma had to admit they looked intimidating, standing on a hill, all together, just waiting to attack.

This did not go unnoticed by Takoma’s Army of the Clans. It was happening just as Trini had predicted. All the warriors were visibly terrified by the sight. Most of them have never seen a gun in their life. Frikru was careful to only come into contact when absolutely necessary.

“To those who don’t know, I am Keni, General of Frikru! I ask you one more time to stand down and let us pass! We wish no harm to either of the clans! If we win we will not burn, pillage or kidnap! We are here only for the Mountain Men! So if some of you want to step aside now, you will not be harmed! I give you my word!” Keni was holding a weird cone shaped thing, which somehow allowed him to be heard from all the way on the other side of the field. Takoma looked to her sides. The people were whispering amongst themselves, giving each other looks.

_Never let them see you are afraid._ Those were the last words Takoma’s mother ever told her. She was not a Nightblood, like her daughter, but knew what it took to be a leader. She never wanted any of it for Takoma, but didn’t have a choice. Takoma remembered the words well, since a few moments after she heard them, her mother was stabbed in the back by an enemy warrior. Young Takoma immediately killed and decapitated the man, showing not a grain of emotion.

Her mother was gone, but the message stayed and Takoma was trying really hard right now to honor it. The thought of Trini crossed her mind. Will she ever see her again?

She quickly pushed the thought away and concentrated on the present situation. She rode her horse forward and turned to face her army.

“They came to lie! They will never leave us be! They are dangerous men and must be stopped today! They kidnap our children, they attacked our capital, killed our Main Natblida! Everyone who doesn’t fight will be considered an enemy of the Commander and will be killed on the spot!” Takoma yelled and showed no sign of letting up. She took a long breath.

“Attack!”

After hearing the Commander’s order every warrior, no matter from which clan, hurried to the other side of the field. Takoma felt relieved that they all obeyed and galloped to the front of the crowd.

Keni was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but he wasn’t really surprised. He also gave the order to attack and a few seconds after all of Frikru was riding down the hill and towards the other army.

This was far from the first time Takoma was on a battlefield. She was almost used to the chaos of a battle by now. She knew how to avoid the arrows, how to make people fall of their horses… She was used to the sounds. They haunted her after her first battle. The screaming, the crying and whimpering. Now she barely heard them as she made her way through the field plunging her sword into every black-shirted man she could reach. Frikru had guns, but not much ammo. Not to mention that Keni ordered them to try and injure and not kill as many people as possible. They just wanted them out of the way.

Takoma on the other hand ordered her men to try and kill as many Frikru members as possible. To discourage them from ever returning and trying something like this again.

Titus, as the Flame keeper followed Takoma to every battle. He was a decent warrior, but could never bear stepping amongst so many bodies. Frikru used their guns in the beginning to take out most of the archers and some of the warriors in the first row. That created a growing pile of bodies in the middle of the field. Takoma climbed over it and rolled down. She managed to dodge the bullets fired from a few Frikru men with rifles who were targeting the people that crossed. She stabbed a man’s horse and finished him off when he was pinned under the animal’s weight. She continued making her way north leaving bodies behind until she came face to face with Keni.

He was on foot, since his horse was long gone. He held a gun in his left hand and a sword in his right, but lowered both weapons when he recognized her. She was holding her sword up, covered in blood and mud. There was a decent size cut on the right side of her face. She tried, but failed to make a single move to hurt him. He smiled sincerely when he saw her hesitating. War raged on around the two of them, but they just stood motionless looking at each other.

Takoma finally admitted to herself she wouldn’t be able to make a move. She slowly lowered her weapon and wanted to look at Keni’s face one more time before moving on, but his smile disappeared as his mouth twisted making an agonized expression. Neither of them saw the arrow coming. It went right through his back and was sticking out of his chest. Takoma looked around for the perpetrator, but couldn’t find him. The only thing certain was that it was one of her men. Keni fell to his knees.

“Takoma…” he mumbled. She dropped immediately to stop him from falling to the ground.

“I’ve got you.” She was now kneeling with his body rested on her legs. For a while she forgot where she was, she forgot about the battle, all that she saw was him.

“I’m… sorry…” He could barely form the words. He used whatever strength he had left to stroke her cheek gently.

Takoma was in tears. All that she was holding back hit her at once, flooded her. She remembered meeting him for the first time, she remembered them admiring their babies, first Trini, then Lexa; she remembered their family meetings in the Throne room, the joy of having someone at your side. She then thought about the time he left her and how she never healed, she thought about his return and every time she saw him in their children. Then she remembered how she took all of her despair out on Trini and Lexa since they were so much like their father. She kept taking everything they loved from them. She made them fight to the death! And now they were separated because of her lie.

“No… I should have gone with you.” She was to blame. She realized it only now. He might have left, but _she_ destroyed their family.

Keni’s hand fell to the ground and Takoma could feel the life leave his body. She wanted to scream, but she probably wouldn’t be heard of all the other people in pain. She just couldn’t let go of him. She hugged his body and sobbed loudly.

“Yu gonplei ste odon, houmon. [Your fight is over, love.]”

Titus has just found his Commander in the crowd and had to do his duty. He had to drag her to safety since Frikru was at an advantage.

“Heda, we must leave. You can’t be here in the open. He’s gone.” He grabbed hold of her arm.

“I… I’m not leaving him here.” She whispered.

Titus kept trying to talk to her, but was unsuccessful.

For the first time in her life Takoma chose love over duty. Love over power. She placed her forehead on Keni’s and whispered to him.

“I am so sorry. I want to go with you. I’m ready now. I’ll let it all go. You’re enough. Please. I want to go with you.” Takoma spoke almost hysterically. Titus saw that he was not going to get her away from here.

Then there was a shot. Takoma fell right next to Keni. It was someone from Frikru but it didn’t even matter now. Titus held back a tear.

Takoma was at peace. More now than ever before. She closed her eyes and waited to join all the other Commanders of the past. The last thought she had was again of her daughters. She remembered that with her, also died the truth about what happened to Trini. That she was alive and ready to succeed her. Takoma believed her Spirit will find Trini and make her the next commander. That Takoma will be able to guide her through her rule. With that hopeful thought she took her last breath.

Titus did his job and removed the Flame from Takoma’s neck. Then he rose and looked around. Their army was losing. They had no choice of winning.

“Rowe op! [Retreat!] The Commander ordered a retreat!” Titus screamed as loudly as he possibly could. Of course all of it was a lie, but he couldn’t allow everyone on that field to die for a dead woman’s cause. He had another duty to carry out now. A conclave had to be organized. The next Commander had to be chosen as soon as possible.

\-----

Tiffany stood at a perfect spot, up the hill. She saw everything. She couldn’t hear the words, but all was clear. The General and the Commander were dead.

Keni. Keni was dead. At least now she knew. She was more upset than she would have been for a friend. He was more than that to her. Now she’ll never know what could have been.

A retreat was sounded. And the opposing side warriors all stopped when they heard the horn’s tone.

“They surrender! Ceasefire!” Tiffy yelled, slowly realizing she was the Acting General now.

All the Frikru soldiers immediately started retrieving to their side of the field and gathering around Tiffany. She wiped away a few tears that ran down her cheeks unknowingly. She was supposed to be one of the few people that would lead the charge on Mountain Weather. But now, she had to stay away with her army and watch from afar. Her pack with one of the protective suits was given to a man named Will and he led the small group to the Mountain.

In that time the Army of the Clans was trying to get all the wounded in the state to move. Titus has already taken most of the unharmed back to the capital with him and was gathering the Nightbloods. Anya was shot twice in the shoulder during the battle. Now she was just lying on the ground and slowly bleeding out. All she thought about was poor little Lexa. First her sister and now her mother. She is the one most likely to become commander now. But, she’s so innocent, so fragile. The only commander Anya knew was Takoma and she could never imagine Lexa as cold and ruthless as her.

For a second she thought she saw Roan amongst the dead bodies lying on the ground. But he wasn’t here. At least she knew he was safe. Then Indra and Lincoln found her.

\-----

The Frikru soldiers made it to the gates of the Mountain and started drawing attention to themselves. They wanted to seem as just a few angry fools. They banged on the door, threw things and fired a few shots. It didn’t take long for the Mountain Men to turn on their acid fog. When they saw it coming from the openings they all changed into the suits from their backpacks and Will sounded a horn.

That was the signal for the solder that has spent the whole day hiding from the Reapers in the tunnels. He then also changed into a suit of his own and ran up and down the caves to trick the Reapers into chasing them. When there were enough of them following him he ran out of the tunnels and straight into the fog. The Reapers, of course, followed and choked only a few moments after emerging from the caves.

Then the man met up with his group and they went for the back door in the tunnels. All was going great so far and the mood was quite good, but soon the encountered some problems. What they didn’t count on was the Mountain Men coming into the tunnels to fight them before they even reached the door.

Frikru was surly outnumbered and Will was the only one that managed to escape. Neither one of them even set a foot inside the Mountain.

Will reported to Tiffany as soon as he could and she rode to their city with the remaining army.

\-----

Blood dripped from Lexa’s chin. Black blood. Blood of the ten or so Nightbloods she had just killed. She promised to let them live if they didn’t challenge her. Just like Trini. But they didn’t listen.

She killed more people today than she did in all her life before. Usually the spatter of blood bothered her greatly, but today she adjusted. She didn’t even shed a tear for her mother. Or her father. She’s lost so much, but she was peaceful.

Costia wasn’t allowed to watch the fighting, but she was in the Throne room when the ambassadors waited for their new commander. Next to Costia were both Anya and Indra while Lincoln was escorting the new Heda.

Lexa walked in just like her mother used to. With her head held high, not looking at anyone, almost without an expression.

Costia tried to control herself, but couldn’t hold back the disturbed face when she saw all the blood. From that moment on she never looked at her friend the same. It’s like a new part of Lexa was created today.

Lexa slowly sat on the throne and started reciting the lineage of the Commanders. All the ambassadors listened and bowed at the end. Then each of the approached the young Commander and swore loyalty.

After the ceremony everyone except the Flame keeper was supposed to leave, but Lexa asked Titus to leave her alone with her master and her friends. He had to obey.

Costia approached Lexa carefully holding a rag.

“What’s wrong, Costia? It’s still me.” Lexa smiled, which to be honest only made her look more disturbing.

“Can I wipe it off?” Costia couldn’t even focus on her friend’s eyes. Lexa answered with a nod. Costia removed all the blood.

“You all right Anya?” The new commander asked.

“Yes, Heda.” Anya was uncomfortable. Lexa used to answer to her and now this…

“You don’t have to act like you did with my mother. Act like Trini is here.” That was maybe the first time Lexa managed to say her name without tearing up. She didn’t say it aloud but this conclave and the new position made her feel stronger.

She gestured Costia to sit next to her on the throne. The girl found it weird, but did it anyway.

“I am sitting here, but we will rule together. Just like Trini wanted. We’ll do it for her. I’ll listen to all of you before I make a decision. Are you with me?” Lexa took Costia’s hand.

“Yes, Strikheda.” Lincoln smiled. Lexa was not so far from her sister. A bit young, lacking experience, but nothing that couldn’t change over time.

“What of Luna?” Lexa asked.

“She said she was going to follow Trini to Frikru, but that was before… After she’s been seen leaving for Floukru.” Lincoln had a hard time saying that.

\----

Trini hasn’t trained since Quint and Tristan gave her a good beating. She’s been preoccupied with the war, which was understandable. Yet she kind of missed it. Before Tiffy left she hinted that a couple of the younger members of the clan might benefit from a quick hand-to-hand combat lesson. Trini did like the carelessness that staying in this place brought, but she also liked to feel useful. So she decided to show them a few moves.

Harry was asked to be her sparring partner to help her demonstrate and he walked to the front of the crowd with a lot of confidence. All of that faded away when Trini leapt off the ground and smacked his face with her foot. He tried to fight back with almost boxing-like punches, but Trini ducked and pushed her elbow into his stomach. Then she grabbed hold of his hand still in a punching position and spoon him away from her. She took advantage of his confusion and, using his leg as leverage, lifted herself onto him and knocked them both down. She, of course, got back up immediately and twisted his right hand behind his back. Harry tapped the ground with his free hand to signal his surrender.

This was worse than she thought. He was supposed to be the best fighter amongst them and she took him down with such ease. Trini knew she had a lot of work ahead of her, but still happy she found a place here.

At that moment the Frikru army lead by Tiffy rode into town and split into little groups. Suddenly you could horns from almost every direction. Trini let go of Harry in confusion.

“The migration.” mumbled Susan before Trini even had the time to ask what was happening.

“The what?” Trini had no idea why people were scattering all of a sudden.

“We have to evacuate immediately. That’s what that means!” Harry followed Sue that started walking towards their home.

“No. No! What is happening? Why are you leaving?”

“Trini, you can come with us too. Just hurry!” He grabbed her hand and tried to drag her with them.

“Let me go! I want to speak to my dad!” she pulled away and ran towards the group of soldiers not far from them.

“Trini!” Harry and Susan followed her as they were tasked with taking care of her.

As soon as Tiffy saw the kids approaching she jumped off her horse and started walking towards them. She pulled Sue in for a hug with one hand and patted Harry’s shoulder with the other.

“I’m glad to see you too, but you need to go home and pack a couple of things quickly. We lost and we have to move before we face retaliation.” Tiffy kissed Sue on the forehead and she ran off with her brother.

“You lost against the Commander? I am not going anywhere until you lead me to my father.” Trini was determined.

“Trini, I need you to listen to me. This is difficult to say. Your father is dead. And we didn’t lose against your mother. We won and she died too.” Tiffy tried to sound as consoling as possible. Trini was Keni’s daughter and she felt responsible for her now, since Keni’s been more than a friend and a college for years.

“So the Mountain Men…”

“They stopped our attack before it even began. But your father was already dead. There was nothing I could-”

“What about Lexa? He promised me he’d bring her back. Tell me you have her?” Trini was unable to think about the losses right now. She had to think about what could still be salvaged. And Lexa was now all alone and threatened by the other Nightbloods.

“We don’t. Trini we can’t kidnap a child from the capitol. I realize you are upset…”

“It’s not kidnapping. I’m her only family, she should be with me!” They were both yelling at that point.

“Trini, I will not make you stay with us. I am nothing to you, I am aware. Frikru has found a place good for building a settlement a little further North. We have a migration plan and are moving there today to save ourselves from the Mountain’s rage. Of course, you are welcome to come with us. It would make me and my children very happy to have you, but if you want to go find your sister, no one will stop you.”

“Good. Because no one could.”

“Just know that both of you are welcome at Frikru at any time. If you find her, and she is not Commander yet, we will take you in with open arms.”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry you had to see my dad die.”

“I never told you…”

“I can see it on your face. You cared for him. You were with him longer than I was. This must be hard.”

Tiffy nodded and Trini took it as a goodbye. She mounted the nearest horse and trailed into the desert. She rode south. Straight for Polis.

\-----

She arrived to the Coalition’s capital just before sunset. Since she was still wearing a Frikru uniform she needed a disguise if she was going to enter the tower. A cloak-like jacket seemed to do a good job. No one recognized her as she walked across the main square wearing a hood.

As she didn’t want to be seen by the guards at the tower entrance she decided to go to the Flame Keeper’s room first. It was accessible of the street. Trini didn’t want to believe it, but there was a possibility that someone other than Lexa has become the Commander and that someone would probably want to kill her on sight.

She entered the candle-lit room and looked around a bit since it was empty. When she saw all the drawings of the commanders on the walls she realized that her mom is one of them now. Commanders of the past. At that moment grief hit her and she took a second before heading further. Then she heard footsteps. She hid behind a pillar.

When it became apparent Titus was the only one that entered she walked out from her hiding place.

“Who is it?” she quietly asked. Titus turned around to face the source of the voice he’d just heard.

“Trini? You were dead. How are you here?”

“I know Takoma is dead! Now tell me who won the conclave!” Trini came closer to him.

“Lexa did. Your sister is fine.”

Trini breathed a sigh of relief for the first time since she was taken from Lexa.

“And so are you… How is that possible? Takoma said the General killed you.” he continued.

“She lied, Titus. Because that is what she does… Did.”

“Heda will be thrilled to see you alive and here.” Titus smiled.

“She must never know.”

“What?”

“I had many supporters by the time I tried a take-over. What do you think they will do now that I am alive and back in the capitol?” Sadness overtook Trini’s features as she realized what had to be done.

“They will kill the child commander so you could succeed her. While you are alive she is at constant risk.” Titus was beginning to realize how tragic this situation is.

“So you see why going up there and announcing my return is the same as slicing Lexa’s throat. The people are merciless as it is. I just can’t risk it.”

“But you can show yourself to her. I’ll take you upstairs; no one has to see us.”

“I’ll just make it worse for her. By now she has already dealt with my death, why would I open up those wounds once again? Is she doing a good job?”

“The best. She organized help for soldiers returning from the war and those who were the victims of the Mountain’s retaliation. She also diverted almost all of our forces from the border with Frikru to the border with Azgeda.” Titus spoke proudly.

“She knows where the enemy is,” Trini smiled, “I’ll leave right away, but you have to promise me you won’t tell a living soul that I am alive. Not a living soul!”

“Fine. Fine.”

“I need you to look after her for me, Titus, because I can’t. And if she is ever in deep, deep trouble send for me.”

Titus nodded and Trini left. She sneaked out of the city the same way she sneaked in. She rode through the desert for more than a day until she found herself in a forest again. From there it was not difficult to locate Frikru.

The entire time she travelled she was second-guessing her decision to leave. But she couldn’t risk Lexa’s life. It was the honorable thing to do. And it was ironic. She attacked her dad so fiercely for leaving, but here she was. Leaving.

But she had to give Lexa her best chance. She always thought it was her destiny to become the Commander, well, it was her sister’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important developments:  
> -Frikru beat the Clans in battle, but both Keni and Takoma were killed. :(  
> -Frikru failed at invading the Mountain.  
> -They are evacuating.  
> -Lexa won the conclave.  
> -Trini came back to Polis, but decided to leave to make sure Lexa is safe.  
> The end!  
> !SOME ATTENTION PLEASE!  
> This was a long ride… I just want to make one thing straight, I wanted to write more. Much more in fact… The reason I made up so many Frikru characters even though they weren’t crucial to the plot is that I wanted to make a sequel. I really did, but I don’t think I have the time.  
> What was supposed to happen is that 10 years later, in episode 3x09 when Titus tells Clarke that there is only one Natblida left, he says Trini instead of Luna. So Clarke goes to search for Trini after Lexa’s death and encounters Frikru and they fight Ontari and ALIE together…  
> I was really looking forward writing it… Damn you, real life!  
> So what do all of you think? Do you think writing a sequel has purpose? Would someone dare to say they would read it?  
> I urge anyone who enjoyed this story to share it with anyone who might also like it. Sharing is caring, people…  
> And also, since it’s over, I ask everyone who has made it this far into my story to give their opinion. You must like it even a little if you reached this deep… Throw me a review, please :)

**Author's Note:**

> So this is kind of a collection of all the important facts so you can follow the story further:  
> The current Commander is called Takoma.  
> She is the mother of Trini (17 years old) and Lexa (10 years old). Both girls are Nightbloods.  
> Anya is Lexa’s master and Indra is Trini’s. Nia is a master to Ontari (9 years old).  
> Costia (10 years old) is an orphan and lives with them.  
> Luna (15 years old) is the second of the Floukru Leader.  
> The Coalition only has 8 clans the rest are separate. There is this group called Frikru that everyone fears and no one knows much about.  
> Don't forget to comment if you enjoyed it.


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